


Throwing stones in a glass house

by Icandigelvis



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Awkward Kageyama Tobio, Blood Drinking, Human/Vampire Relationship, M/M, Sugawara is the real MVP here, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:42:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 28,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23368651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icandigelvis/pseuds/Icandigelvis
Summary: Right then and there, in the bathroom of a vampire’s house, something so frail, so desperate was uttered. Shoyo felt a pang of guilt for even asking Kageyama to stop. A part of Shoyo was wishing he could’ve drained him of as much blood as he wanted, just so Kageyama could experience the feeling for at least a little bit longer, no matter the damage.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 55
Kudos: 287
Collections: Haikyuu Fics That Light my soul on Fire, Haikyuu best fics vluv99





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was surprised by the lack of kagehina vamp fics so here I am, sir! *salutes*
> 
> I hope you enjoy ♡

Vet school was pretty expensive, to say the least.

Shoyo was spread out across one of the tables of campus, his book on veterinary neuroanatomy neglected in front of him. On top of it he had placed a water bottle, the weight making sure the pages stayed closed.

Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture was full of life around him, students chattering and laughing. Additionally a few were groaning and practically crying about courses, tests and grades. Uni-life with all its sides.

“I was about to text you,” a voice was heard to his right, “But your mandarine of hair is obvious from any distance.”

Shoyo turned his head, narrowing his eyes in the sunlight. Sitting down by his table was his roommate Tadashi Yamaguchi, a lunch box in his hands.

“Mhm, is that the broccoli soup?” Shoyo asked, eyeing the container.

“I already told you you can’t have any,” Tadashi said displeasingly. “Plus, it’s cold. The line at the microwaves was too long.”

“Still better than nothing,” Shoyo whined.

“I told you to at least make ramen this morning. That’s your own fault, Shoyo.”

“Bokuto was there, he would’ve distracted me and I would’ve been late to class,” Shoyo tried to defend himself.

“You know, it’s your fault just as much of his that you two get distracted by dumb conversations,” Tadashi pointed out and Shoyo sat up straight, pouting at his friend.

“You’re just roasting me now.”

“Just saying,” Tadashi smiled, taking out a spoon from his bag, unclasping the lid to his lunch.

They had lived together for more than two years now, both studying veterinary but Tadashi focusing on radiology while Shoyo did the general program. It certainly helped that they were close nonetheless, able to help each other on courses. Then again Shoyo was technically a year behind since he’d taken a gap year after his first, so it was mostly Tadashi helping him.

Shoyo liked what he was studying but it had all been a bit more intense than he expected. When he was offered a full time job at a farm outside Sendai where his cousin Satori Tendō worked he jumped on the chance. It was only about a year’s employment since the previous farmer had suddenly gotten very sick.

In the end the guy passed from the apparent cancer but the man who owned the farm was in need of a permanent farmer and they hired someone else. Shoyo got a year off and got back to his studies afterwards. It was a fun and odd experience but ultimately nothing Shoyo wanted to do for the rest of his life. The worst part was the long trip early mornings on his bike over to the farm, close to an hour from his dorm.

Kenma was the person who had lived in the dorm the longest. He was studying system science as far as Shoyo knew, but was clearly on a break. His parents were clearly wealthy and would pay for his living expenses even though Kenma only seemed to attend half his courses. At least he seemed to pass the majority of the ones he was registered on. Kenma was obviously very smart but it seemed like his laziness got the best of him when his interest wasn’t 100% there.

Bokuto moved into the dorm in February, about a half year ago. He was loud, energetic and always surrounded by friends. Shoyo didn’t mind when he had people over but he could tell it bothered his other two roommates. The oblivious Bokuto had told Shoyo he thought Kenma hated him just because he glared at him so often, without figuring out that it was simply because of his volume and tendency to have friends over. When Shoyo explained the true cause Bokuto luckily took it well and instead spent more time at his friends' places. Ultimately he was the one who spent the least time in the apartment.

But they got along fine. Shoyo and Tadashi used to spend a couple days a month cooking together because it saved them money when they could bulk buy ingredients on sale. Shoyo had convinced Kenma to join them and Bokuto did as well when he was around.

As summer was closing in the spring term was ending, Shoyo left with two tests before it was over.

However, he still hadn’t found himself a job.

A _new_ job, that was.

His credentials weren’t the best; a year at a farm the strongest point, followed by the burger bar he was _let go_ by two months ago. He hadn’t been fired though. He was a good waiter and even bartender, albeit a bit clumsy. The customers liked him because he was always cheerful and Shoyo picked up most of the shifts when people got sick on short notice. Nonetheless he was the last one hired back in November and the new burger joint that opened across the street had stolen a lot of the customers. So his boss had to let him go.

The only other two jobs he had on his resumé was one where he was handing out flyers for a new sports store opening in central Sendai together with his first job consisting of delivering comercial magazines, summarized as _the worst experience in his life™_.

“You still haven’t heard anything from your boss?” Shoyo asked, taking out his mini bag of cheeseballs. It was the only form of food he had grabbed that morning. There was a small percentage cornflower on the back, it had to count for something. Corn was a vegetable, right?

“No, but I already told you they’re probably not looking for anyone since that Tanaka was hired. Maybe you should just take the magazine job?”

“I’d rather hang myself,” Shoyo shuddered, remembering the early mornings spent sorting through the ads before delivering them around the neighborhood, getting glares from people who didn’t want ads in the first place. Only to earn close to nothing.

“Oh, Yachi told me about her friend though,” Tadashi lit up, “I don’t remember her name but she works at a second hand uni literature book store. You could exchange some of your books.”

“I thought you were going to say they were hiring,” Shoyo pouted, drying the cheese powder from his hands on his pants, regretting it just a second later.

“Nope, but you could probably make a bit of money on it. If you pass your tests you can hand in the new books too. Plus, if you need quotes or references from the ones you’re afraid to get rid of in the future, just loan them for a day at the library.”

“... You make a compelling argument, Gucci,” Shoyo admitted, removing his bottle of water from his book to smooth it out, hands at least sorta clean. He didn’t take too good care of his books but they were mostly in good condition.

“Don’t call me that,” Tadashi mumbled from habit, spoon clanking against the lunchbox as he finished the last of his soup.

Shoyo knew selling his old literature was something he could do. He had a vague memory of discussing it with Kenma at one point. Hadn’t Kenma said he could take his books off him too and keep the money? Just for the bother of selling them himself.

Tadashi had a point though. Shoyo was always worried he would need his books later when writing reports and whatnot, but he supposed he was sort of out of options at this point. Unless he wanted to keep the ramen-for-lunch-ramen-for-dinner streak for a whole year.

Shoyo shuddered at the thought.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

It took him a week before he finally gathered six books, three of which were Kenma’s on science technology and programming, and made it to the bookstore.

Shoyo took his bike, taking advantage of the free public bicycle pumps around town to pump his wheels while he was out. The weather was nice too; the wind moving around his hair as he sped past people walking, the childish tingle of excitement when he took the slopes a bit too quick. The clouds were covering the sun most of the time but they were light, enough so to not carry any rain.

Like most things in Shoyo’s life his bike was second hand too but in a surprisingly good condition. When Yachi’s grandmother passed she had a lot of furniture her family had to quickly move, sell or get rid of. Yachi was the only one living in Sendai, the same town as her grandmother, and had to manage most of it herself since her parents didn’t have the time for the hour-long drive. In the end Shoyo helped her move and sell the furniture and got to pick what he wanted in turn.

It hadn’t been as morbid and depressing as Shoyo had expected. Apparently Yachi’s grandmother had been a rude cheapskate, disowning her daughter for marrying a non-japanese person. When Yachi and he had been digging through her stuff they’d had a lot of fun instead, dressing up in 40’s clothes, acting out scenes from old-timey movies before eventually donating more than half of the furniture to the local charity center.

“It feels good,” Yachi had said. “Donating things without getting any money was probably her biggest fear in life.”

Shoyo had collected a small oak dresser and a painting of a crow in Edo style. Shoyo had no clue what the kanji beside the crow meant but he thought the painting was pretty. Lastly he also took the womens bike since Yachi already had one. It was an older model but in pristine condition, the frame white with a small pattern of red flowers printed on.

Shoyo didn’t mind. His mom had said they were tulips, which she loved. So it made him think of her.

Locking it to the bicycle racks on the 25 Imaizumi-street Shoyo looked up at the bookstore next to an art gallery or something. The building had wide storefronts, revealing the many bookcases inside, a couple picked books displayed in the windows. One window was only dedicated to the most recent edition of the law book, Shoyo aware the students studying law usually struggled to get the latest version without emptying their wallet completely.

The store wasn’t too large, perhaps one or two floors with a wooden interior, books on every shelf visible. It was fairly empty inside, a student with headphones sidestepping the entrance as Shoyo entered, nodding to him in thanks.

Truthfully Shoyo usually bought his own literature online, second hand too of course. It was mostly because he was lazy but he would look for good deals on LINE or Facebook, sometimes finding new editions to an okay price.

He also knew which courses he had coming in autumn, perhaps he could look for the literature now here in the store to get an idea of which option was cheaper.

There were two open cash registers out of three. One was occupied by a customer and the other one looked free, the cashier distracted by sorting through books on a desk behind the cash registers.

Shoyo absently noted that the guy was pretty tall, his hair black. He was wearing the same kind of apron as the other cashier, a green fabric with the logo printed, both wearing simple white button downs underneath.

Shoyo walked up to the register, shrugging out of his backpack and smiling as the cashier turned around.

‘ _Oh_ ,’ Shoyo thought, briefly pausing. ‘ _He’s really handsome.’_

“Hello,” the cashier said, a blank expression on his face.

“Hi! I was wondering if I could hand in some books?” Shoyo asked, clumsily dropping his bag on the floor. He bent down to pull it back up, mumbling an “oops.”

“Have you registered them on our website?” the cashier asked, Shoyo reading his nametag as T. Kageyama.

“Oh… no I haven’t,” Shoyo trailed off, coming to a stop where he was busy unzipping his bag.

“That’s fine,” Kageyama said but sighed anyway; words the opposite to his behavior. Shoyo raised an eyebrow, always clueless as to why rude cashiers like this guy could have a job but not someone like Shoyo, who really needed it right now.

_‘And I’m really nice!’_

Shoyo took out all the books one by one, accidentally dropping his bag yet again. He embarrassingly closed it before putting it on his back. It was much, much lighter than before at least.

_‘Books are heavy, man.’_

“I’ll need to do an evaluation of the books and their state. If it’s a book we already have a large amount of the price might also be reduced. You can also do this yourself on our website and then send in the books, if you’d prefer,” Kageyama explained, the words clearly repeated many times a day.

“It’s fine, I mean I’m here now,” Shoyo shrugged, hands in his pockets.

“Okay,” the cashier replied, starting with the book on the top. He began by scanning the barcode on his computer, typing something while supposedly making sure he found the correct edition of the book, checking the first page for the information.

Shoyo waited, looking around the store. The ground floor was pretty wide and a set of about five wide stairs led up to a second half-floor, a continuation of bookshelves after bookshelves. Perhaps it was all the colors or the warm light from the lamps, but the place felt sort of home-y.

“Tobio, I’m heading for lunch,” the other cashier suddenly called as he passed behind him, patting him on the back.

“Mhm,” Kageyama nodded, looking over his shoulder where another employee seemed to appear from between two rows of bookcases, probably finished from his own lunch.

The new guy smiled at Shoyo in greeting before turning to Kageyama.

“Did you finish with these books?” he asked, brushing a strand of silver hair behind his ear. Shoyo could only see the slightest proof of the man’s black roots. So definitely dyed then.  
He certainly didn’t look old enough to have greying hair.

“No, only the left pile,” Tobio replied, not even looking over as he was busy with his computer screen.

“Ah, okay. I’ll check on the delivery then,” the other cashier replied, going to the second computer. “Do you want to take a break today or not, by the way?”

“I’m fine,” Kageyama replied, focused on the book in front of him, skimming through it, checking the pages.

“Not hungry?” Shoyo joked, trying to join in on the conversation. The two cashiers looked at him.

“No,” Kageyama replied.

“This guy starves himself because eating is ‘bothersome’,” the other cashier explained, rolling his eyes. Shoyo giggled.

The second guy was obviously much kinder.

“Hey, I can’t always afford food, I kinda get it,” Shoyo replied, scratching his neck. “I’ve probably had nothing but ramen and rice these last months.”

Kageyama looked up at him again, his eyes instantly moving to stare at his hand. Then he looked back down at the book like he caught himself, a frown appearing on his face.

“Ah, that’s no good,” the other cashier exclaimed, Shoyo reading ‘K. Sugawara’ on his nametag. “Are the study fees too bad?”

“Practically killing me,” Shoyo admitted, “And getting a job is nearly impossible in Sendai.”

“I feel that,” Sugawara replied, leaning onto the desk, “I have a bachelors in historical linguistics yet I’m here, still looking for a proper job.”

Shoyo bit his lip, trying to give the man a compassionate look. “I hope it works out for you. I’m studying veterinary medicine and while the work market isn’t too competitive the studies, on the other hand, aren’t… that easy.”

“Damn. Yeah I’ve heard that’s one of the tougher programs,” Sugawara replied.

“At least I won’t have to do summer school but now I’m instead searching for a job and it’s nearly impossible,” Shoyo continued, not wanting to whine but also not wanting the other cashier to leave. Kageyama was like a rock. Shoyo wished he had come in just 5 minutes later so he could’ve gotten Sugawara instead.

Kageyama then looked up, meeting Shoyo’s eyes once more.

“This book would be classified as in good condition, which would be ¥3520, okay?”

“Sure,” Shoyo nodded. He was pretty sure he had paid something like that when he first bought it, perhaps even less. Maybe this would turn out to be quite a good deal.

“What sort of jobs are you looking for?” Sugawara continued, taking out a rag to briefly clean the counter. Shoyo supposed Thursday evenings were a bit slow. From what he gathered earlier they were waiting for a delivery though.

He remembered the times when they were waiting for customers back at the burger bar; walking around and pretending to be busy wasn’t the most fun.

“Anything, honestly,” Shoyo laughed. “Watch me sell my body parts on the black market in a month.”

“Okay, no!” Sugawara laughed but he actually looked a little scandalized at first, like he thought Shoyo was serious. Like one could seriously do that in the 20th century.

_‘… Could you?’_

“You don’t know anyone? To hook me up?” Shoyo teased.

“No, not really. And even if I did I wouldn’t,” Sugawara said, a coy smile on his lips. Shoyo flushed a little.

_'Is he flirting with me? Or is he just one of those social people who can’t help being flirtatious with everyone?’_

“Uh, not looking for help here then?” Shoyo asked, watching Kageyama start on the second book, struggling a bit as the first page was slightly curled. Shoyo remembered leaving it in the bathroom while he took a shower. It was in pretty shitty condition, to be honest.

“Unfortunately not, but you can always hand in your resume,” Sugawara shrugged. “Kageyama’s mother is the owner though so even though you seem more service oriented than this guy, he’s staying, whether he wants to or not.”

“Oh. Are you studying or…?” Shoyo tried.

“No. Also this book is in shitty condition,” Kageyama replied, holding up the book. He was clearly annoyed by Shoyo and Sugawara’s conversation.

“Yeah, I had to memorize a couple terms on one of the pages so I read them while in the shower. I propped it up on the counter but I guess the steam curled the pages,” Shoyo smiled sheepishly.

“Smart,” Kageyama mocked, a small smirk on his face. At least it was close to a smile.

Sugawara got busy next as another customer appeared, buying two books on what looked like archeology and neanderthals. It sounded a lot more interesting than zoonosis in livestock that Shoyo was currently studying for.

“Whatever. Why are you working here if you don’t want to? Because you have to?” Shoyo countered.

“None of your damn business,” Kageyama grunted, Shoyo sighing.

The other customer looked their way and Sugawara laughed awkwardly. When he was finished with the customer Sugawara walked over and crossed his arms.

Kageyama did a double take as he looked up at his collegue. “Sorry,” he then mumbled.

“You make it hard for me, Tobio,” Sugawara whispered but Shoyo still heard him.

“You’re his boss too?” Shoyo asked, biting his lip.

“I’m the manager, his mom is the owner. She’s not here a lot so I have to report on how he’s doing,” Sugawara said, a fake, wide smile on his face.

Shoyo pressed his lips together to not laugh again.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Kageyama grunted, turning to put the two finished books aside.

Sugawara disappeared when a second customer asked for his help with the different editions of a law book, Shoyo awkwardly standing in silence with Kageyama.

He checked his phone for a second, finding it empty of notifications.

“This one is in new enough condition,” Kageyama said, placing Kenma’s first book on the finished pile, looking back to read the screen. “Which will be ¥4246.”

“Okay,” Shoyo nodded, having no desire to be kind back to Kageyama. He might be handsome but he was rude.

Kageyama seemed to spend a second too long looking at him before starting on the last book.

“Hey,” a voice called from the entrance, Shoyo turning to see it was a delivery man waving to Sugawara who was now free.

“Hey Asahi! Just bring them in,” Sugawara called back, walking over the door to move some sort of cardboard cutout for books on sale to the side to make more room.

“Kageyama, why don’t you take this,” Sugawara appeared, taking Shoyo’s book from him. “I’ll take care of your customer.”

“What?” Kageyama asked, looking suspiciously at his collegue.

“Shimizu told me she showed you how to register the deliveries,” Sugawara said, pushing Kageyama forwards. The taller looked a little confused before walking over to the door where the delivery man appeared again. With the space in front of the door cleared the delivery man brought in a pallet with two heavy-looking bags filled with packages. Perhaps it was books people had sent in via mail.

“Everyone’s gotta learn, right?” Sugawara asked, checking the last book in at least half the time it took Kageyama.

“Absolutely,” Shoyo smiled, still feeling a little nervous in case Sugawara was indeed flirting with him. What if he asked for his number?

He _was_ really charming though.

“Your total comes to ¥11 976. You want it on your card or in cash?”

“Damn, I wish I had done this earlier,” Shoyo said, impressed. “Uh, if I pick card it’s gonna take a while right?”

“It’s usually 2 to 3 business days and since it’s Thursday presumably next week,” the cashier nodded.

“I’ll take cash then. I don’t want ramen tonight too.”

“Sounds good. You deserve to celebrate,” Sugawara smiled, printing out the receipt and counting the cash before handing it to Shoyo. As he was putting the bills in his wallet Sugawara caught his attention.

“Hey,” he said in a lowered voice, leaning a bit over the counter, glancing behind Shoyo presumably at Kageyama who was talking to the delivery man. “There might be a job out there, in case you’re interested. It’s a bit off the radar, though.”

Shoyo stared at him like a deer in headlights.

Out of _all the things_ this beautiful man could have said, the last thing Shoyo expected was to be offered illicit work.

“Uh,” Shoyo blinked, keeping his voice down “is it illegal?”

“God, no,” Sugawara shook his head, “but it’s not _really_ recognized as a real job so there’s no tax and stuff either. It’s more like an exchange.”

“An exchange?” Shoyo asked, “Like traveling sort of thing?”

“No, it’s a blood donation sort of thing,” Sugawara replied, resting his chin in his hand.

“Oh.”

Shoyo had actually signed up to do that before. The trouble was that the nearest hospital was quite a distance away and biking afterwards wasn't recommended. Added to the fact that they changed the law 10 years ago and was no longer paying donors with money but now instead with cinema tickets. And sure, Shoyo could go watch several movies or even hussle by selling the cinema tickets online but it still wasn’t enough. When he started taking shifts at the burger bar he didn’t have time between studies either.

“But it’s paid in money?” he asked, pocketing his wallet.

“Mhm, depending on the time and amount like ¥40 to 60 large each meeting.”

Shoyo felt his jaw drop, staring at the man.

“... ¥60 000?” he hissed, trying to keep his voice down.

“I’m not the employer but I’d guess something like that. It’s equivalent today to what I used to pay,” Sugawara nodded, once more glancing at Kageyama behind them.

Shoyo thought about his words, starting to get a feeling for what this might be. If Sugawara had paid for whatever this was before and it was more like an _exchange_. Like an exchange with his body…?

Not that Shoyo could comprehend how Sugawara would need to pay for such a thing; he was like the definition of captivating. And he wasn’t really Shoyo’s type even, yet here he was, smitten by this silver-haired man.

Shoyo couldn’t lie and say he hadn’t considered a job in this line of work before. But guys didn’t usually make a lot, right? They mostly looked for girls in the porn industry, from what he understood. Bokuto had been dating a cam girl back when he first moved into the dorm and she had been proud of what she did, telling Shoyo about it when she was over at a party. He had been curious, after all. It definitely seemed a lot more dignified than he had first thought.

Collecting his courage Shoyo looked up to meet the cashier's eyes.

“Can you tell me a little bit more?” he asked.

Sugawara nodded, spinning a ball point pen between two fingers before placing it on the counter.

“Kageyama, can you get the next customer?” Sugawara called, Shoyo turning around to see a second customer getting in line behind him. Behind her Kageyama was digging through one of the bags, looking at Sugawara with frustration. He didn’t say anything though, just walked over to the second cash register, perhaps used to being bossed around.

“I’ll show you where the book is,” Sugawara said to Shoyo, waving for him to follow. Walking up the short steps of stairs he led him up to the half-floor, towards the little info disk there.

“Alright, so it’s not for me but…” Sugawara whispered then pointed in the direction of the cash registers behind the wall.

“Your colleague?” Shoyo asked, eyes widening.

“Tobio is on the PSC capsules but he’s not reacting to them well which is why he’s so depressed. He’s lying to his mom about it and is too awkward to look for a donor himself,” Sugawara said, glancing around the corner, probably to make sure they were alone.

“PSCs capsules?” Shoyo asked, feeling completely lost. A donor for what?

Sugawara looked at him in silence for a second. “PSCs. They’re a mix of perfluorocarbons and animal blood,” he said, like it was obvious.

A silence fell over the two, Shoyo blinking at him. He could hear the customer and Kageyama talking over by the counter, along with some sort of instrumental music playing over the store which he hadn’t noticed before. Absently looking to his left he spotted a speaker in the corner.

Then it clicked for him.

_Oh._

“I thought it was a sex thing,” Shoyo admitted in the midst of his surprise, regretting his words a second later as Sugawara’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

Caught a bit of guard the employee brought a hand to his mouth to stifle his laugh. “Oh, sorry- no, not at all.”

“I’m not an idiot, I swear,” Shoyo mumbled, half to Sugawara and half to himself, dragging a hand over his face in frustration.

“Sorry,” Sugawara hummed, an obvious smile behind his hand. “I thought you saw the sign at the register. You were looking at it.”

“What sign?” Shoyo asked, feeling defeated.

“The pro-vampire sign,” he said, lowering his hand, his smile replaced by a cautious expression.

“Ah, no,” Shoyo said, biting his lip. “My argument for not being an idiot is kinda failing, isn’t it-wait Kageyama’s a vampire?”

Shoyo turned around to peek around the corner, watching the black haired cashier help another new customer with his books.

“Indeed,” Suga said, watching Shoyo.

“But his eyes aren’t red,” Shoyo whispered. He was fairly sure he would’ve reacted from seeing that when he first walked inside.

He wasn’t racist or something when it came to the creatures because his parents had raised him with an open mind. Yet, vampires were pretty rare and Shoyo had only seen a couple in his lifetime, the red eyes always the key point.

They learned about them in school, of course, and how different they were biologically. From what Shoyo understood vampires usually avoided crowded places since the sounds and scents could be overwhelming. It was there the myth of the sun came from, he remembered reading. They wouldn’t burn in the sun but their eyes would hurt from the brightness. Shoyo was pretty sure he had read that they could see in the dark too.

“We wear lenses,” Sugawara said, giving Shoyo a calm look.

‘ _We_ ’

“Oh, shit, sorry,” Shoyo paled, instinctively taking a step back. From the way Sugawara looked down at his shoes he immediately regretted moving away. Because that was a pretty clear signal.

“No, it’s my fault for assuming we were on the same page,” Sugawara spoke, keeping the distance, his tone suddenly more formal. “My apologies, I didn’t want to intimidate you.”

“It’s fine,” Shoyo shook his head, still caught a bit of guard. He was trying not to stare at Sugawara, glancing back down the store at a spot behind him.

“I should get back to it. Sorry for taking up your time,” Sugawara said, giving him a tight smile before he turned back to the stairs. Shoyo felt his heart speed up, a voice in his head telling him the vampire could hear it too, before he quickly made up his mind.

Reaching out he grabbed the other’s upper arm, perhaps a bit too violently. Sugawara turned around without even flinching, looking up at Shoyo.

“I-I’m still interested… I think,” Shoyo said, staring wide-eyed at the other.

Sugawara seemed to contemplate it for a moment, his kind smile gone. Shoyo dropped his hand when he realized he was still holding his arm, mumbling a small “sorry.”

“I need to get back,” Sugawara said, nodding to the cash register where there were indeed two people in line.

“Please,” Shoyo breathed.

Sugawara sighed, looking Shoyo over, one last time, making his judgement. “Okay. Give me your phone, I’ll add my number,” he then concluded, Shoyo quickly digging it up from his pocket, unlocking it and handing it over.

It only took Sugawara a couple seconds before he handed it back.

“Thank you,” Shoyo said, forcing himself to smile, perhaps a little too stiff since Sugawara only slowly nodded at him.

When Shoyo followed him down the stairs Kageyama looked at them, his eyes meeting Shoyo’s. If he truly was a vampire there was a large chance he would’ve heard their entire conversation. Whether he was skilled enough to listen while also helping his customers was another thing.

If anything, however, he probably heard Shoyo’s loud beating heart as he exited the bookstore.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

Shoyo didn’t wait that long until he texted Sugawara.

He was too distracted by what had happened though that he first forgot his bike and had to walk back but then also biked past the cheap pizza place he had planned to visit. As he made ramen back home he was googling ‘blood donations’, ‘vampire donations’ and ‘vampire drinking blood’.

Kenma appeared in the kitchen the next moment, only nodding to Shoyo before getting an energy drink from his shelf in the fridge. He seemed to pause when he noticed how distracted his roommate looked.

“Shoyo? Are you okay?” he asked, glancing at the noodles boiling in the pot.

“What? Yeah- Hey Kenma, have you ever met any vampires?” Shoyo asked, putting down his phone for a second.

“I’m a vampire,” Kenma said, face as blank as ever.

“What?!” Shoyo exclaimed, gaping at him.

His roommate cracking his can open while staring at Shoyo, taking a sip.

“Just kidding,” Kenma rolled his eyes, “You’ve seen me eat, dummy.”

“Oh, right,” Shoyo awkwardly laughed before he gave his friend a pout for fooling him.

“Why? Did you meet one?” Kenma asked, tilting his head.

“Yeah, but he said they wear lenses. I don’t know if he meant, like, everyone or just when he’s working,” Shoyo wondered aloud. “And if all of them do it I might’ve met so many of them without realizing.”

“I would too if I was one,” Kenma shrugged, “I imagine they get stared at a lot otherwise.”

“I guess,” Shoyo thought, looking at his noodles. As he did he remembered to turn off the stove, setting the pot aside. He supposed he deserved overcooked noodles today.

“Why? Are you a racist?” Kenma calmly asked, drinking again.

“No! Of course not,” Shoyo exclaimed. “I was just surprised. I was… offered a job to, you know, donate blood.”

Kenma ‘Ah’d, finally looking a little less bored. He thought about it for a moment before he continued, “Are you thinking about it?”

“I guess. The guy I spoke to was really kind but the other vampire who needed a donor? Not so much. And Google is giving me a pretty wide mix of responses.”

“Hmm?” Kenma asked, taking a seat on one of their bar stools on the other side of the small counter. They were still missing a chair since Shoyo broke one of them. He was going to get a new one, it was on his list! Just not priority number 1 right now.

“So like there’s a lot of people saying it’s dangerous and like, you could die if they get too thirsty or pierce- I mean bite you in the wrong way? But then there’s this forum for work experiences and almost everyone is positive there.”

“I could see Google giving a bunch of results of opinionated people,” Kenma hummed.

“I’m trying to ignore those. But like, apparently the government is shit at supplying real blood for vampires and they mostly give out this fake-animal blood mix but it doesn’t work for everyone. And the crimes for biting a human without consent gets them like 10 years in prison.”

“I knew about that one,” Kenma said, looking unimpressed.

Shoyo prepared the rest of his food, still thinking it over.

“I know a vampire though,” Kenma said, “I could ask him for his opinion, though I assume it’ll be biased.”

“You do?” Shoyo asked, surprised.

“He’s a childhood friend, still lives in Tokyo.”

“It might be something,” Shoyo nodded.

“I’ll give him a call,” Kenma declared, taking his phone out, instantly going to call and speaker. Shoyo hadn’t expected him to and was about to wave at him to hang up when the call was answered on the second ring.

“Kenma? To what do I owe the pleasure?” a deep, almost raspy voice answered.

“Hello. My friend has a question for you,” Kenma simply said, holding out his phone for Shoyo to take.

“Uh, no I don't’. I don’t know why Kenma called,” Shoyo awkwardly laughed, glaring at Kenma over the phone.

“...okay?” the voice on the line asked.

“Kuroo, can vampires accidentally kill donors?” Kenma asked for him, resting his chin in his hand, unimpressed by Shoyo’s cowardness.

“Why? What’s going on?” the voice asked, presumably Kuroo. He sounded worried which was understandable considering Kenma’s random question.

“My friend is thinking about taking a job,” he clarified, Shoyo busying himself with shoveling soggy noodles into his mouth. The artificial beef flavor tasted no better than it did yesterday.

“Well he should do his research first. There can be some dodgy people out there but if the person’s good it’s usually paid really well,” he explained. Shoyo could hear the voice of a subway or bus in the background, calling out a station. Going by the lack of disturbance it was probably a bus.

“Can you die if you bite wrong?” Kenma asked, going back to what Shoyo said earlier.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Uh, like,” Shoyo spoke up while still chewing, bringing up his phone to try to find the comment, “I read that some people died because they got bitten, like, not the right way? And bled out or that the wound was too bad to fix.”

“I don’t know what sort of forums you hang on but I haven’t heard about that. There are of course risks but bleeding out sounds unrealistic, at least nowadays. If anything, the worst case scenario is you’re sucked dry. And not in the fun way.”

“Kuroo,” Kenma scolded, no real fire behind his voice.

“So that’s a possibility…?” Shoyo breathed, his shoulders falling. If there was a goddamn risk he could die he wasn’t going to take the job.

“There’s always gonna be bad people out there,” the voice on the phone said, “You’ve got them, we’ve got them. Though I’m pretty sure the percentage of humans killing humans is larger than vampires killing humans.”

“Oh really?” Shoyo asked, surprised. He looked at Kenma.

“Hey, I’ve gotta go, I’m headed to practice,” Kuroo said.

“Alright, I’ll talk to you later,” Kenma replied, the guy hanging up before a brief goodbye.

Shoyo eventually escaped back to his own room. After some research which consisted of half a documentary, three Youtube videos, a couple comments on Reddit and other forums Shoyo finally started writing a reply to Sugawara.

From what google told him he would meet Kageyama about once to twice a month. The vampire would usually take the same amount of blood that was taken during regular blood donations at hospitals. The comments about vampires possibly drinking you dry were still echoing in the back of Shoyo’s head. The creatures had killed humans before, it wasn’t unheard of. Every now and then the news would report on a new case, like a body found in a river completely emptied of blood, puncture wounds being teeth marks.

 _‘Humans kill humans like, all the time,’_ Shoyo told himself. Trying to distract himself he looked back down at his phone.

To: +𝟾𝟷 𝟹𝟶𝟷 𝟿𝟹𝟸𝟹  
 _Hello,_  
 _It’s me from the bookstore! My name is Shoyo Hinata. I think I’m still interested in the offer._

Shoyo frowned at the message, reading it over. He decided to remove the ‘I think’ part and then pressed send. He would still recall the change in Sugawara’s face when he realized Shoyo was just another human who was scared by vampires.

Throwing himself on the bed Shoyo stared up at the ceiling. Was he really scared?

He supposed the tales of meeting a red eyed person with bared fangs late at night scared him when he was younger. But Sugawara had proven just how different they were to the tales in just a couple minutes. And Shoyo had never even considered they would wear contact lenses to blend in. It meant he might’ve met vampires before.

Perhaps he was prejudiced after all?

Turning over in bed he checked his phone to no avail, no new texts having appeared. Checking the time he realized the bookstore might still be open.

Shoyo busied himself with studying for his boring test, pen spinning in his hand, absently trying to mimic the move Sugawara had done.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

When Shoyo woke up the next morning he tiredly grabbed his phone only to find he had gotten a reply. It wasn’t a short one at that. Blinking awake he tried to focus as he read through it, ignoring his other notifications.

From: +𝟾𝟷 𝟹𝟶𝟷 𝟿𝟹𝟸𝟹  
 _Hi Shoyo,_  
 _I’m glad you got back to me. I also hope you understand my sudden hesitation yesterday is only because I care a lot about Tobio and I would rather prevent anything bad from happening. He might look scary but he’s a sensitive soul. There’s still a lot of animosity in this country, as I’m sure you’re aware._

_I ran the idea by Tobio and he agreed to meet and talk about it. I would come with, too. If you’re still interested I will first need to see a blood test from a blood donation clinic which is free, then we can set a time to meet._   
_/Sugawara_

Shoyo realized the text had been sent at four in the morning. He wondered if Sugawara was an early bird or the opposite and had stayed up too long.

To: +𝟾𝟷 𝟹𝟶𝟷 𝟿𝟹𝟸𝟹  
 _It’s totally fine! I apologize for being so startled._

Shoyo sent the message, starting to browse through his piles of paper, searching for the proper one. When he found the results of the blood sample he’d done back in January he sent a picture of it, sending it to Sugawara. As he waited for a reply Shoyo zoomed in on the picture, discovering with horror that his name, home address and IN aka Identity Number was all there.

‘ _Ah, I probably shouldn’t have done that,’_ he paled in realization. Sugawara must seriously think he was a complete dumbass by now.

Shoyo put on some lazy clothes, Fridays luckily one of the days his program didn’t have any lectures. It looked like all three of his roommates had left already, uncommon for Kenma. They usually kept their doors open when they weren’t home, a clear way to indicate who was home and who wasn’t.

His phone then vibrated, Shoyo instantly opening the message.

From: +𝟾𝟷 𝟹𝟶𝟷 𝟿𝟹𝟸𝟹  
 _If you haven’t traveled abroad, taken drugs or had unprotected sex since or anything that would make you need to retake a test, then yes. But does this mean you regularly donate blood?_

_Also, a tip, don’t send your IN to strangers._

“Damn it,” Shoyo whispered, getting some rice ready for a late brunch. He still didn’t have anything in his fridge, freezer or cupboard he could add to the rice apart from some carrots and soy sauce. Shoyo figured he could at least boil and salt the carrots for some variety.

While trying to come up with a non self deprecating reply he changed the number’s name.

 _‘Yes, I haven’t had sex since January,’_ was instantly a rejected option.

Shoyo pressed his lips together when he realized vampires probably had a lot of sex. It was said they had the energy and strength to go even further, a lot of thirsty people writing about it online.

“Stop,” he audiably told himself. Then again Sugawara only really asked about unprotected sex. If Shoyo hadn’t had any sex at all in half a year was irrelevant.

To: Sugawara  
 _No to all of those :)_

Shoyo added the emote last second. He hated the stiff, sterile way of texting. He had first spoken to Sugawara in a light, friendly manner, after all. He wished he could go back to that.

 _‘Oh God, I thought he was flirting with me’_ Shoyo realized, dread falling over his shoulders.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

Kageyama had his own apartment in Sendai. It was located a couple subway stations outside the city center but it was a very beautiful building with a small park nearby. The elevator seemed new and clean, Shoyo staring at himself in the mirror.

His hair wasn’t a complete mess for once. Shoyo had ditched his bike for taking the subway, not sure if there was going to be any blood tasting or not today. Sugawara had mainly mentioned ‘a meeting to talk’ so perhaps not. Still, he didn’t want to risk it.

Bokuto had gotten some free Icsca subway cards from some event for new students, trading Shoyo two in exchange for picking a horror movie one night. After being unable to sleep that night Shoyo wasn’t sure it was really worth it.

But now he had a couple rides for free nonetheless. He could afford to spend them on this trip.

The elevator reached floor 3 and Shoyo looked around the hallway, searching the doors for the correct name. Kageyama was written on the door at the end of the hallway.

Checking his phone he realized he was about eight minutes early, biting his lip. There was a peephole on the door so potentially there was a chance they could see him. If that was the case waiting would be much more awkward so Shoyo pressed the doorbell button.

A second later he realized that constantly standing by the peephole was probably a bit weirder.

Sugawara was the one to answer the door. He was clad in a white sweater above a white-button off; perhaps he had come off work recently.

“Hinata,” he smiled, opening it for him to come in.

Shoyo greeted him in a small wave, stepping inside. He had googled ways to lower his heart rate that morning and how to appear less nervous. He’d even eaten some of Tadashi’s spinach.

Conclusively it didn’t seem to help a fucking thing now, he realized. His nerves were going wild; his pulse quickening both from the thought that someone could hear it and the ultimatum that he would be alone in a room with two vampires, talking about bloodsucking.

 _Christ_.

At least Sugawara didn’t comment on it, Shoyo focusing on unzipping his jacket and kicking off his sneakers.

“Did you find the place properly?” he asked, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.

“Yeah. The neighborhood is really pretty,” Shoyo replied.

“There was construction here the first time I visited him so I got lost,” Sugawara admitted, Shoyo smiling at the image.

They entered the living room where Kageyama sat on a large couch occupying the majority of the room. On the wall was a ridiculously fancy-looking tv with some stickers of ‘ULTRA-HD’ and a bunch of mumbo jumbo tech specifications Shoyo didn’t understand.

Across the wall were two wide windows covered by white curtains, letting in some of the light from outside.

What surprised Shoyo the most were the multiple plants spread around the room, almost some sort of pot on every surface available. Some were even hanging from the ceiling.

“Hi again,” Shoyo greeted, ready to give this another attempt.

“Hello,” Kageyama replied, only meeting Shoyo’s eyes for less than a second.

“I’d offer you something to drink or eat, in his stead,” Sugawara started as he sat down on the couch, leaving the armchair for Shoyo. “But this dummy doesn’t have anything but tap water and two cans of room temperature cola.”

Shoyo surprised himself by laughing. Somehow Kageyama’s sour face only made it funnier.

“I don’t need any of that so why should I?” he grumbled.

“Having some basic stuff in case someone shows up might be smart though,” Sugawara sighed and Shoyo could tell this was the continuation of an earlier conversation.

“Like, when I got here today I discovered that he had unplugged the fridge and freezer,” he chuckled, sounding a bit defeated. Like no words would change Kageyama’s behavior.

“It saves energy,” Kageyama defended himself and Shoyo glanced at the kitchen behind them.

“He’s got a point there,” Shoyo agreed. There was an LED display screen on the fridge that was turned off, indicating it wasn’t plugged in. To the right of the counters stood a freezer-looking thing, smaller and colored black rather than white. Shoyo wasn’t completely sure what it was.

“No one’s as proud as you to show everyone you have no friends, Tobio,” Sugawara said, leaning back against the cushions after grabbing one of the pillows and putting it in his lap.

The apartment was in fact quite warm, something Shoyo hadn’t expected. He definitely felt comfortable enough to unzip his hoodie. Some people had their AC on way too high during the hot summers considering the warm sunny weather outside. Here it was almost warmer inside than out.

“I have friends,” Kageyama defended himself, his frown getting even deeper.

Sugawara raised an eyebrow at him. “Your plants don’t count.”

“Shut up,” Kageyama hissed, then in a mumble added, “Just no humans.”  
“Ah, that’s fair though, right?” Shoyo asked, a little uncertainty. Both looked at him. “I spent some time googling stuff after that time at the bookstore last week, and I really feel embarrassed about my uneducated ass. Google told me things still aren’t that great for you guys. I’m sorry.”

He had clearly succeeded in surprising both of them, Sugawara making an impressed face.

“Laws, prejudice and stuff might not be the best but we still have human friends,” Sugawara smiled, then lightly laughed, “I mean, at least most of us do.”

“I don’t have any vampire friends- as far as I know, at least. I didn’t know you wore lenses sometimes,” Shoyo admitted, scratching the back of his head.

“You’re not supposed to know,” Sugawara assured him, hand waving in the air. “It’s the whole thing of keeping a low profile.”

“So it’s pretty common?”

Shoyo quickly fell into a comfortable conversation with Sugawara, learning just a little more about how certain rules worked. Apparently donating blood in exchange for money wasn’t illegal, just not something classified as work on paper because the state didn’t want to encourage it. But from what Sugawara explained some families of vampires had a sort of intolerance to the plasma that was developed for them. They could still consume it but were at danger of fatigue and lethargy. It wasn’t enough to be fatal all the time but still a big enough problem.

“So you’re immortal?” Shoyo asked, having crossed his legs in the chair. He was genuinely interested by now. Definitely surprised by how much he didn’t know and how much some people on the internet got wrong.

“No, not at all,” Sugawara explained, “We just age slower. And we’re more resilient to illness and external damage and stuff. We still die, just like you.”

“And you can’t turn humans? With venom?” Shoyo asked, looking at Kageyama when he scoffed.

“That’s another one of those absurd myths,” Sugawara smiled empathically, “We have no ability to turn humans into vampires, just like the opposite is impossible. Our biology is way too different.”

“I see,” Shoyo hummed, glancing at Kageyama again.

Sugawara continued. “However, there’s an enzyme in our saliva secreted when we bite. It helps close the wound but opposite to mosquito bites this enzyme doesn’t make it itch. It’s said to have numbing qualities too but I think that’s subjective.”

“Oh,” the human slowly nodded. He felt fairly positive he had read something along those lines back in school. Yet he couldn’t remember the venom part was false?

Sugawara suddenly brought out his phone from his pocket, looking at the screen.

“It’s work, I gotta take it,” he said, disappearing behind the door that supposedly led to Kageyama’s bedroom.

Silence fell over them after Sugawara left, Shoyo awkwardly looking at his hands in his lap, unsure of what to say.

“It’s a nice apartment, by the way,” he tried, looking around. He was still a bit surprised by all the plants. Apart from the greenery there weren't a lot of personal objects, just a couch, tv table and TV. The kitchen looked unused though Shoyo supposed that was truly the case.

“It’s okay,” Kageyama replied.

Nonetheless Shoyo especially liked the plant with half-pink half-green leaves standing on the unused induction stove. Shoyo didn’t know anything about plants, in fact he had recently gotten rid of a plastic one that just gathered dust in his room. He had a vague memory of owning one of those IKEA cactuses at one point but had no clue where it was now.

Kenma had some small alien-looking plants on the windowsill of his room, called s-something. Soylent? Suck-? Succulents?

“I like the plant with pink leaves,” Shoyo commented.

“Do you even know what kind it is?” Kageyama replied, staring at the blank tv screen.

“It’s not a tulip,” Shoyo tried.

Kageyama reached up to drag a couple fingers over his face, the human taking the response as a no.

Shoyo tapped his fingers on his knee, wishing Sugawara would return soon. The trouble was, of course, that he wouldn’t be his donor but rather the black haired emo boy in front of him. If they wanted to get anywhere with this they would have to talk.

“You don’t even want to do this, do you?” Kageyama was the one to ask.

“I don’t know, I haven’t tried it before,” Shoyo answered honestly. “But if I get paid and it’s worth it, yes I do.”

“You don’t even know what it entails. Are you stupid or something?”

“Excuse me?” Shoyo asked, shocked by the sudden hostility. He tightened his fists in his lap.

“You said you read online about it, didn’t you see the things people write?” Kageyama asked, his blue eyes harsh.

Shoyo felt his pulse quicken, staring at the other. Then he thought about the words the vampire just uttered.

“Have _you_ done this before?”

“Drank blood? Are you an idiot?”

“From a human? Directly?” Shoyo challenged, watching him for a reaction.

Kageyama turned his head. “Yes.”

“When was the last time?” Shoyo pressed. Busying himself with the questions helped his anger dissipate. He was starting to realize Kageyama’s anger might not be hate but in fact something else. Uncertainty? Self-hatred? Fear?

“Why should I tell you?” he hissed and for the first time Shoyo caught sight of those fangs. Just like his internet search had depicted it was not only the two upper corner teeth that were sharp, but the ones next to them as well. The sharp fangs weren’t too long, nothing like in the cartoons, but they still jump-started something in Shoyo’s lizard brain that made his adrenaline rush.

“You haven’t, had you?” Shoyo asked nonetheless, “And you’ve read those forums too.”

Kageyama didn’t reply but he met Shoyo’s eyes. Shoyo would take that as an affirmative.

“Are you worried you’ll hurt me?” the human asked, trying to figure it out.

The vampire in front of him snorted, like it was a stupid question.

“Of course I am,” he spat.

“If you’re worried then I know you’ll be careful. So what’s the matter? You gonna take the offer or not?” Shoyo continued, pressing on even though he was starting to get worried Kageyama would kick him out. He knew they were stronger, he could most likely overpower him easily.

“Are you suicidal?” Kageyama whispered, actual unease on his face.

“Okay, how much are you offering? I got all the way over here to your place, on my free day. I don’t want it to be for nothing,” Shoyo insisted, not sure where this sudden version of him was coming from. He’d blame it on the adrenaline.

“And it’s not just for my sake, because I need money. You obviously need real blood, right? I’m right here. So, what are you paying?”

Kageyama stared at him from across the couch like he was a wild animal, like he was scared of him.

“Huh? You’re out, or what?” Shoyo continued when the other didn’t say anything.

“¥55,” Kageyama breathed, eyes slightly wider as he joined Shoyo in this weird version of an argument.

“¥55 000 each time? Twice a month?”

“You don’t even know if you’ll be able to do this,” Kageyama frowned.

“Let’s give it the old college try, you ass. Deal or no deal?”

“Deal,” Kageyama said, inhaling deeply afterwards. Shoyo held out his hand, shaking it in the air when Kageyama didn’t move.

“You already agreed, shake my damn hand,” he groaned, the vampire finally obeying.

Kageyama’s palm was cold against Shoyo’s sweaty one, the human breathing a little heavily.

They stared at each other in silence as both seemed to calm down from the outburst, Shoyo pulling his hand away to try and discreetly dry it against his plants. The next moment the bedroom door opened, Sugawara peeking outside with both eyebrows raised.

“Are you both alive?”

“He agreed,” Shoyo proclaimed, feeling slightly proud in the midst of worry. He could worry later. He was sure it would be fine.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

Shoyo had tried, he really did.

Friday was coming up and Shoyo had managed to keep his curiosity for one day before he failed and fed his desire. In the end he had gone through three vampire movies and was on season 2 for a crime drama with a seriously hunky vampire detective.

One of the movies had been a romance between a vampire and human, the human man dying at the end while his lover stayed young. The various actors who had played the different versions of the aging human man weren’t too similar and the plot was sort of bad, yet Shoyo cried his eyes out at the end.

The sexscene had been pretty spicy too. Shoyo had yet resisted to look up that kind of porn. Then again, with the way he was escalating his “research” of vampires he would probably give in to that pandora’s box soon.

When Shoyo wrote his last exam for the second to final spring term course he was regretting all the time he had spent watching that damn detective show instead of studying. If he failed this test he’d have to retake it in autumn. And it would all be because Shoyo obviously had a thing for red eyes.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

It was getting to the point that his friends were starting to notice, at least Shoyo was suspecting so.

All four of his roommates had gotten together for their cooking thing. Bokuto and Shoyo had done the grocery shopping and basically only bought things that were on sale. There was some sort of white fish with a reduced price because of the quantity, the two deciding on grilled whatever-the-fish-was-called.

Kenma hadn’t been too happy but when the food was finished he admitted it was good.

“Have any of you seen Blood Rose, by the way?” Shoyo asked as he opened his second beer. It tasted like shit but it was the only kind they had, Kenma keeping his Smirnoff ice to himself while Tadashi generally stayed off alcohol. Bokuto could basically drink a whole bottle of vodka without getting drunk.

Okay, perhaps that was an overstatement but the guy had built up some serious resistance over the years. Probably at the cost of brain cells, Shoyo thought as he watched Bokuto try to open a can of peaches with a knife. Tadashi quickly took over, fetching the can-opener in the cupboard.

“Blood Rose? Isn’t that the one with Kiera… what’s her name?” Tadashi asked as he held Bokuto off while opening the can.

“Yeah. I don’t know, it was okay,” Shoyo tried to shrug nonchalantly. “I haven’t seen a lot of vampire movies.”

“I love the Gold Fang series,” Bokuto exclaimed, turning to Shoyo. “They’re really gory, man.”

“Of course you’ve seen the horror ones,” Tadashi pointed out, finally handing Bokuto the can.

“Does this new, sudden interest mean you went for it?” Kenma asked, chin leaning on his bottle while he held it in both hands on the table.

“Went for what?” Tadashi asked, looking up from where he had pierced half a peach on a fork, eating at it.

“Thanks Kenma,” Shoyo mumbled, looking at him as he wiggled in his seat. Since Shoyo had been the one to break the fourth chair he was the one who always had to borrow the little folding chair from the cupboard. His ass was already aching.

“What? I didn’t know it was a secret,” Kenma denounced.

“You got a vampire girlfriend, Shoyo? Or boyfriend?” Bokuto asked, sitting back down.

“No, it’s a… potential job,” Shoyo shrugged.

“With vampires?” Tadashi asked, already frowning.

“It hasn’t started yet. We’ll meet up this Friday,” Shoyo explained.

“But what are you doing, exactly?” Bokuto asked, finished with his peach in less than a minute. Shoyo reached for the can to get one before they were all gone.

“Well, you know,” Shoyo tried, attempting to sound nonchalant, “it’s a donation thing.”

“You’re gonna donate blood? Wow!” Bokuto exclaimed, distractedly watching as Kenma seemed to make an impromptu sort of cocktail with the peach syrup and his Smirnoff.

“Shoyo,” Tadashi called, looking thoroughly concerned, “Isn’t that really dangerous?”

“It’s fine. I met two of them, they’re really kind- no, well, one of them is. I’m just donating to one, of course. But I mean we’re just gonna try it first, to see if it works and stuff.”

Tadashi still looked sceptical.

“Look, it’s a lot of money,” Shoyo promised.

“Your life is worth more than just money, you idiot,” Tadashi muttered and Shoyo was surprised by his apparent disapproval. Did he have some sort of deal with vampires?

“Hey, as long as you’re safe,” Bokuto said, giving Shoyo’s shoulder a bump.

“Of course,” Shoyo grinned.

Across the table he met Kenma’s eyes, the blond definitely seeing right through him.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

Friday arrived no matter how nervous Shoyo was.

During the elevator ride up Kageyama’s apartment he at least wasn’t thinking about horrible possible outcomes of his life being in danger. No better, however, he kept trying to convince himself to not think about the sex scene from the movie he watched yesterday. The R rated scene at the end of the movie had been pretty bloody, to say the least.

Thus, naturally, Shoyo couldn’t get the image of the two girls rolling around in sheets stained red, out of his head.

Going for the second door Shoyo rang the doorbell, tugging a little on his jacket. Kageyama answered the door in just a couple seconds, staring down at Shoyo like he was wondering why he had shown up.

He was wearing a simple white shirt and black joggers, his blue socks the only colored item.

“Hiya,” Shoyo greeted.

“Hi,” Kageyama replied, letting Shoyo enter. The apartment was dark, only a dimmed light coming from behind the TV, some sort of LED strip.

“It’s dark in here,” Shoyo commented, having to narrow his eyes down at his feet to get his shoes off.

The lights turned on, Kageyama standing by the light switch.

“You really can see in the dark, huh?” Shoyo asked as he undressed, hanging his jacket on the small rack. Only one other jacket was already there, a thick mocha bomber. Shoyo presumed it would look baggy even on Kageyama.

“Mhm,” the vampire nodded, heading towards the living room.

“Weird,” Shoyo mumbled.

“It's weirder than you can’t. Most animals have night vision,” Kageyama pointed out.

Shoyo supposed that was true.

Just like last time the temperature in the apartment was warm but it still didn’t smell like much apart from maybe soil and fog. Usually warmth brought forth scents but maybe that was just the smell of humans. Shoyo could otherwise only get hints of some sort of perfume or perhaps shampoo, cleaning products and plastic.

There was a quare machine on the floor by the window Shoyo hadn’t noticed last time, maybe it wasn’t on then. Now it was, producing a slow smoke of what he assumed was just mist. So a humidifier, Shoyo was pretty sure. He couldn’t smell any strong artificial scents so it was probably just for the plants.

“Is the humidifier for the plants?” Shoyo asked, putting down his backpack next to the chair.

“Yes.”

“So, uh, how are you doing?” he asked as he sat down in the arm chair again, not really sure how they would do this.

“Why?” Kageyama asked, narrowing his eyes at the other.

“Jesus. I’m asking how you’re doing,” Shoyo groaned, “you gotta unclench man.”

“I’m good,” Kageyama barked, his usual frown now back on his face.

“Okay. No small talk, I get it. How do you wanna do this?” Shoyo asked,crossing his arms.

Kageyama’s wrinkle between his eyebrows faded a little as he thought for a second. “You need to calm down first.”

“Calm down?” Shoyo asked, feeling pretty calm already. And just because he thought about it his heartbeat sped up.

_‘Damn it. Why did you have to say anything?’_

An amused look appeared on Kageyama’s face, Shoyo scowling at him. So he could definitely hear it then.

“Shut up,” Shoyo mumbled.

“I meant your breathing,” Kageyama corrected, “though you should try to calm your pulse too if you can.”

“I can’t control my heartbeat, dummy,” Shoyo grunted, looking to the side, face to face with a palm-looking plant. Kageyama didn’t say anything, the humidifier giving off an almost quiet buzzing noise.

“Does it matter anyway?” Shoyo asked, turning to watch as the taller sat back against his couch.

“If you fidget or move I might hurt you,” he explained.

Shoyo felt a shiver run through him. Was he implying he would hold him still if Shoyo tried to flee? What if Shoyo wanted to get away but the vampire held him still, continuing to feed?

Shit.

“Why?” Shoyo was the one to suspiciously ask.

“Because my fangs are sharp?” Kageyama asked, like it was obvious, looking at Shoyo like he was mentally challenged.

“Alright, quit it,” Shoyo finally said, “I don’t know much about your culture and you clearly don’t know a lot about humans either. So childish mocking is pointless.”

“You made fun of me last time when I didn’t know what stomachs making noises meant,” Kageyama pointed out.

Shoyo pressed his lips together. “Fair enough. So let’s stop arguing about those things and just accept we know different stuff, right?”

Kageyama didn’t outright agree but he made an agreeing face which Shoyo took as enough.

Another awkward silence fell over the room, Shoyo closing his eyes to try to relax. He lasted for about 10 seconds.

“Alright, I’m not sure I’m gonna get any calmer. I’m a little nervous here man,” Shoyo admitted.

Kageyama looked a little uncertain too, frowning at the floor. He then got up and walked over to the sink.

“Are you scared?” he asked and there was surprisingly no undertone of provocation, just curiosity.

“A little,” Shoyo admitted, leaning over the arm of the chair, pulling one of his knees up. He watched the vampire pour a glass of water only to drink it himself.

“You can drink water?” he asked, surprised.

“Of course?” Kageyama asked, _that look_ back again.

“Hey, remember! I don’t know anything,” Shoyo pouted. At least Kageyama appeared to have caught himself, dropping his scowl as he turned back to the sink.

“It’s water. Any living creature needs it,” he instead clarified, Shoyo humming.

Filling a second glass Kageyama brought it over, putting it down on the tv table. Shoyo just then realized there was no dining table or even a bar counter in the room. Then again if there was no need why would there be one.

“Can I ask what all the plants are about?” Shoyo tried, taking a sip of the water. It didn’t taste like anything, the apartment evidently equipped with a good filter system.

“I like plants,” Kageyama shrugged.

“I can tell,” Shoyo said, trying a smile. “My mom loves flowers, dad too, but I don’t know a lot about green plants without flowers.”

“Flowers smell a lot, most plants don’t,” the other agreed, “My mom grows a lot of dahlias and hibiscus, they’re not too bad.”

“Oh, I know how hibiscus looks,” Shoyo exclaimed, bringing out his phone to google the other. Apparently the black colored dahlia was popular?

Kageyama waited before he awkwardly tried to nonchalantly point at the plant with pink-leaves, Shoyo discovering it had changed it’s spot to the middle of the counter. “That one is a philodendron pink princess. It’s a cutting from my aunt’s massive one. I’ve had it for really long.”

“I _really_ like it,” Shoyo genuinely smiled, pleased Kageyama seemed to be making an attempt too.

Then again, perhaps he was just hungry.

Shoyo gulped, words like ‘marinating’ filling his mind.

“Uh, so how long have you lived here?” he continued, distracting himself. He was just starting to get calm, damn it.

“Like 8 years or something,” Kageyama replied.

“8 years?” Shoyo’s eyes widened, “Did you live here as a child or something?”

Kageyama tilted his head, surveying Shoyo for a good moment.

“What?” Shoyo mumbled, intimidated from the stare.

“How old do you think I am?” he then asked, looking at him expectantly, clearly curious of Shoyo’s guess.

“I don’t know?” Shoyo exclaimed, “What, you’re a lot older than you look?”

“Guess,” Kageyama continued, sitting almost absolutely still.

“Uh, well something like my age? I’m 23,” he supplied.

“In human years?”

“In human- what?” Shoyo spluttered, finding the words unbelievable, “of course?”

“There are other types of counting measurements too, idiot. But no, about double.”

“You’re 40?” Shoyo gaped, sitting up straight from the chair.

“You’re half my age, you should probably show some respect,” Kageyama grinned. Shoyo was still mildly shocked about the age reveal but the sight of an actual smile from the other made him smile right back.

“Have you had your midlife crisis yet, old man?” Shoyo chuckled.

“Midlife?” Kageyama scoffed.

“Mid- well, how old do you normally get?”

He was trying to recall the movies but he only remembered the lesbian vampire being like 50, looking like 18 or something.

“It depends. Around 3 to 400. If it’s from age we can get up to a thousand.”

Shoyo felt his jaw drop. If he had been shocked at 40 a fucking thousand was a completely different thing. Shoyo had imagined 100+ but a thousand? Then he focused on the words.

“Wait, from age? Do you mean the rest is, like, illness?”

Kageyama suddenly looked a little uncomfortable from the question. “Sure.”

“But also other things?” Shoyo guessed.

As another silence fell over the room Shoyo could hear cars honking somewhere far away outside. It was a Friday after all, people probably just wanted to get home.

Shoyo assumed by Kageyama’s sudden absence of speech that this might be a sensitive subject and that perhaps he shouldn’t have asked. Just as Shoyo was about to say something else however, Kageyama opened his mouth.

“Do you know how we normally die?” he asked, trying to appear casual as he fixed his shirt.

“No, not really,” Shoyo admitted gently.

“It’s usually summarized as one out of a couple different things, like it’s just randomized to keep it varied. On the death certificate, I mean. But there’s always one common factor, that’s ultimately _always_ present in all cases of ‘unexplained’ early death,” Kageyama explained, looking up to meet Shoyo’s eyes, “Starvation.”

Shoyo exhaled, avoiding his eyes as he instead found an invisible spot on the table in front of them. Of all the ways to die Shoyo always imagined starvation to be one of the worst.

“We’re given PSCs from the government… it’s blood supplements. They don’t really work that well though. Some people have bad reactions by taking them, even from when young while others can live off them for no problem. You can get used to it but it’s.” Kageyama trailed off.

Shoyo felt a shudder pass through him as he suddenly had a realization. All those images of murderers, of vampires who had murdered, were almost always old. Usually beautiful and somehow prideful in their appearances like vampires usually were, but always old with a couple wrinkles and sometimes greying hair. He wondered if he could ask Kageyama about this, to make sure, or if it was considered rude. If he put two and two together it added up.

“My family has always had trouble with the capsules,” Kageyama admitted, Shoyo appreciating his sudden honesty.

“How have you made do for… 40 years though?” Shoyo asked, swallowing around nothing. He took another gulp of the water.

Kageyama wasn’t exactly skinny. Sure, he was a bit lanky but he certainly didn’t come off as ‘starved’ in Shoyo’s opinion.

“We had a family donor back when I was young. My body would reject the PSCs at first so it was needed. As I grew up my body got used to the supplements because I had to,” he shrugged.

“My mom sends me blood bags sometimes but I don’t want to worry her.”

“Shit, I didn’t know this was such a huge issue,” Shoyo whispered, somehow feeling a little ashamed of himself. Shouldn’t this be common knowledge? Yes, vampires made up a minimal population of Japan but still enough that they should get some sort of help, right?

“What happened to the donor?” Shoyo asked instead when Kageyama didn’t reply.

“She died,” Kageyama shrugged. When Shoyo’s eyes widened he quickly corrected himself. “From age, idiot! She was my m-mothers donor first…”

“Ah, I see,” Shoyo awkwardly chuckled.

“Whatever,” Kageyama said when he seemed to remember who he was talking to.

“Uh, so should we begin then?” Shoyo hesitantly asked, looking around the room. Did he want to do it here or somewhere else?

“Hinata,” Kageyama said, Shoyo looking up at him, fairly sure it was the first time he had said his name.

“Yes?”

“I didn’t tell you all of that to guilt you into this. If it doesn’t work it doesn’t. Don’t force yourself if it makes you uncomfortable,” Kageyama insisted, for once looking a little concerned.

“Ah, yeah, I get it. No worries, I’m a pretty honest person,” Shoyo promised. Then he remembered his biggest worry.

“So I apologize if this comes off as ignorantly human, but is there a chance of you… uh, not stopping? Like taking all my blood?” he finally asked, holding his breath as he waited for a reply.

Again Kageyama stared at him like he was truly challenged. “You’ve got what, four to five liters of blood? You think I could drink all that?”

Shoyo blinked. “Well… no?”

“Exactly, no. And I promise I’ll stop myself. I drank some PSCs earlier so I’m not deprived.”

“So… if you were really hungry it would be more dangerous?”

“I’d like to think I have some self-restraint,” Kageyama muttered, “How long would it take before you killed a dog out of hunger?”

“A dog?!” Shoyo exclaimed, both horrified and then a little offended he was being compared to a dog.

“It’s the comparison we’re taught, to try to understand human hunger. If you could eat a part of the dog without killing it and it would grow back in a month, wouldn’t you?”

Shoyo scratched his head, staring at the other, clearly conflicted. “I guess? What a weird comparison, though.”

He watched the vampire shrug, standing up to probably get ready. Shoyo was instantly brought back to his earlier thoughts. How would it feel when he bit him? Would it hurt when he drank? Would Shoyo feel high afterwards?

Some internet accounts seemed to claim so anyway, Shoyo hoping that one could be right.

“Uh well… Again, where do you want to do this?”

Kageyama frowned as he seemed to think, looking at the couch.

“The bathroom,” he then decided. It wasn’t what Shoyo had expected but he supposed the vampire was worried about dirtying his couch. Would there be a lot of blood spilling? Should Shoyo remove his shirt to save it?

“Will there be a big… mess?” Shoyo awkwardly asked, following Kageyama to the bathroom.

“No,” he hissed but then turned to look at Shoyo, like he was giving it a second thought.

Shoyo waited for him to elaborate.

“I… I don’t know, I haven’t done this in a while,” Kageyama then admitted, glancing to the bathroom floor. At least everything looked just as clean as the rest of the apartment. Shoyo briefly imagined a young Kageyama sitting in his mother’s lap, an offered human wrist in front of his mouth, letting him drink while his small hands clutched onto the limb.

Kageyama returned a second later with two of the black couch pillows, throwing them down on the floor. He grabbed one of the towels on the rack, placing it on the tiles before kicking both pillows on top.

“Better safe than sorry, I suppose,” Shoyo said, removing his shirt. He felt a little shy suddenly being half-naked. Kageyama stared at him for a moment, up his face and down his chest.

He then sat down on one of the pillows, cross legged. Shoyo mimicked him, sitting across without too much space in between.

As they sat in silence he felt his heart rate pick up speed once more, Shoyo focusing on breathing evenly.

“You need to concentrate on breathing,” Kageyama started like he had read Shoyo’s mind, busying himself with getting into the right position. “Suga told me it might be difficult for you to focus on it but it's gonna be your main priority. I won’t be able to talk so… uh, just pinch me or something.”

Shoyo nodded, remembering this from his own research. He had assumed Sugawara had been the one to teach Kageyama how this was done if he hadn’t done it in many years.

“Do not try to fight me,” Kageyama insisted next, making sure he made himself clear. “You’ll just hurt yourself. If you want me to stop, tell me or again, pinch me. I promise I will.”

“Okay,” Shoyo breathed, taking another deep breath. His eyes caught onto the way Kageyama’s tongue poked out between his lips. Shoyo suppressed a shiver.

Kageyama’s hands were cold as they grabbed a hold on his arms, leaning forwards. Shoyo tilted his head back and slightly to the side. He stared up at his shower and curtain, examining the water nozzle, the clear glass of the shower door, the tiles of the bathroom.

“You okay?” a voice breathed against his shoulder, Shoyo twitching a little from the feeling of warm air hitting his skin.

Suddenly it all got very real.

Shoyo cleared his throat, swallowing around nothing one last time before he nodded, indicating he was ready.

Kageyama moved one of his legs to get even closer, his right hand coming up to Shoyo’s nape where he held his head carefully but steadily, enough so that Shoyo could relax a little.

He had prepared for the nerves but he hadn't expected the level of intimacy this was.

Next something soft touched his skin, right at the junction between his shoulder and neck. Kageyama’s lips slowly passed up and down for a moment, searching for the perfect spot to bite. To pierce the skin and draw blood.

Shoyo remembered to breathe, making a deep inhale as he closed his eyes, focusing purely on the sensation.

Two sharp points started pressing against his skin, the human unable to hide the surprise, his breath hitching. Kageyama wasn’t biting down yet though, he was getting Shoyo used to the feeling. Perhaps it was a little for himself too. Maybe he was dragging it out to enjoy it more.

_Like foreplay._

“You smell fucking amazing,” a raspy voice whispered against Shoyo’s skin, the sharp points moving as he spoke.

“Good,” Shoyo heard himself whisper back. He could not only hear the intake of breath from the vampire but also feel it against his skin.

Something akin to satisfaction, maybe even pride filled Shoyo. It was a little addicting he realized, understanding that he could have this sort of effect on another person.

The teeth scraped against his neck once more, a tongue pushing just underneath, tasting the skin. Once more the two points pushed against him a little, Shoyo reminding himself to breathe.

_‘Alright. ‘_

_‘50 K, Shoyo.’_

With a low growl Kageyama finally bit through the skin, making it a bit quicker than he had expected, probably to ease the pain. Shoyo still let out a weak whimper nonetheless but he wasn’t sure if it was out of discomfort, surprise or perhaps just by instinct.

Shoyo tried his damnedest to relax, aware of the way he had tensed up the moment the fangs pushed into his neck.

_Breathing._

_Right._

Making a slow inhale, Shoyo focused on his lungs and not on the stinging sensation he was itching to scratch. Exhaling he felt his shoulders drop a little.

When Shoyo was sure he had gotten his breathing under control again he let his eyes flutter open, staring at a blurry bathroom, Kageyama’s black hair in the corner of his vision. Still trying to distract himself from the feeling on his shoulder he blinked his eyes, focusing on the showerhead once more.

The fangs were still dug deep into his vein, the pain a permanent uncomfort yet mainly like a prickling sensation.

When a warm tongue pushed against the edge Shoyo heard himself gasp. He was too focused on the feeling to be embarrassed.

Shoyo could _feel_ when Kageyama slowly removed the sharp teeth next, his tongue licking over the two spots, encouraging more blood to escape the wounds. He was starting to gather that the blood would flow freely at first when a puncture was made and there wouldn’t be a lot of sucking needed. If he thought about it, a deep enough cut would bleed on it’s own just fine.

He suddenly heard a wet noise followed by a very loud gulping sound, Shoyo stilling. The image of Kageyama attached to his neck, gulping down his blood sent a variety of emotions through the human’s body.

He was once more distracted by the pain in his neck, this time not from the bite however. Shoyo tried moving his neck slightly only to receive a short growl. Unable to hide his reaction he gasped lightly at the noise, flinching when Kageyama slowly sucked once more, another loud gulp as he swallowed.

“My neck is aching,” Shoyo whispered weakly, unable to use his voice properly, “Can we lie down?” he asked.

Kageyama seemed to hear him though and carefully but eagerly crawled forwards while slowly lowering Shoyo back onto the towel, still completely attached to his neck. His mouth was warm around him, presumably also because by the leaking blood pooling from the holes. As far as Shoyo could tell nothing was escaping, though. Not even a drop.

It seemed like Kageyama was thorough.

The vampire let out another long, satisfied sigh, the cold air from his nose tickling the hairs on Shoyo’s nape.

He speculated over how much time had passed. There was obviously no clock in the bathroom - understandable - but Shoyo hadn’t even remembered to bring his phone. He wondered if he could bring his phone next time to play games meanwhile.

_Next time._

Would there be a next time?

As things were going this far Shoyo wasn’t too uncomfortable, at least not considering what he gained out of it. Of course he would have to take into account how it affected his body and so on, but from his point of view he suspected he would be down to continue.

Then again, it was a two person exchange. What if Kageyama didn’t like his blood?

Shoyo tried to mentally shake off the image of the vampire throwing up his blood all over the place. If he truly thought it tasted bad he would’ve already stopped, right?

Another hungry gulp followed by a sigh brought Shoyo back to the present. He was also still awkwardly propped up with one of the pillows under his butt. He wondered if it made more blood flow down into his neck because of the position.

_Was that bad?_

Additionally Shoyo wasn’t sure if he was getting tired from lying down or from losing blood. Shouldn’t the reaction to a wound keep him alert and awake if anything? He wouldn’t lose a dangerous amount after all.

...Right?

With Kageyama still going Shoyo was starting to wonder though. How did he know when he was finished? When he had taken enough? He doubted Kageyama had centiliter marks down his throat to measure.

Counting to a minute, Shoyo then tried to calculate how much time could have passed.

“Kageyama,” he mumbled, a gentle hand reaching up to touch his arm.

There was another low growl but it silenced only a second later, the tongue licking over the wound, Kageyama swallowing once more. Shoyo could hear him intake air with his mouth this time. Air seeped in between them where they had been joined, the feeling cold against the parts where his skin still wet. The vampire attached his lips once more, tongue dragging more thoroughly against the skin, sort of reminding Shoyo of an animal.

He continued licking over the marks, eventually releasing with his mouth and only lapping with his tongue, breathing heavily above him.

Shoyo stared up at the ceiling, waiting for him to finish, giving the sensation all his attention. Whether Kageyama was savoring the last taste or closing up the blood with his weird vampire saliva Shoyo wasn’t sure.

He found it in himself that he was okay with either.

“You okay?” a rough voice finally spoke, taking a last long lick. Shoyo watched him lean back to look over his work, licking his lips, eyes blown wide with his pupils drawn together. With the excitement in his eyes Shoyo could actually see a hint of a deep red inside the circle of his fake, blue lenses.

The human suddenly found himself wishing he could see the vampire’s real eyes. Perhaps he could just ask for it.

“Yeah, damn,” Shoyo groaned instead, trying out his voice.

“Fuck,” Kageyama whispered, falling over onto the side, lying beside Shoyo on the floor. He was breathing sort of heavily, seemingly collecting himself from the experience.

Did vampires need to breathe?

Dragging the pillow from under him Shoyo instead held it against his chest, focusing on himself for a moment. He was feeling his limbs, making sure he felt okay. He couldn't wait that long though before he let curiosity win and his right hand moved up to gently touch the attacked area on his neck.

With two fingers he found the wounds, his sensitive fingertips trailing the slightly hard surface of where they were already closing up.

Turning his head he looked at Kageyama who was still staring at the ceiling, breathing having ceased to normal. Or rather, to nothing. In actuality he looked about dead right now.

“You good?” Shoyo asked, feeling a little relieved when the vampire opened his eyes and closed his mouth, licking his lips.

“Mhm,” he absently nodded, still in his own world.

“Did I taste good?” Shoyo asked, a small part of him still a little worried by the potential reply.

“Like paradise,” Kageyama said, voice barely a whisper.

And right then and there, in the bathroom of a vampire’s home, something so frail was uttered. Something so desperate, so innocently child-like about his voice and words that Shoyo felt a pang of guilt for even asking Kageyama to stop. A part of Shoyo was wishing he could’ve drained him of as much blood as he wanted, just so Kageyama could experience the feeling for at least a little bit longer, no matter the damage.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so inconsistent, I call vampire venom bs but then I give them red eyes lmao  
> Also, unless it was obvious, I'm one of those _fucking plant people yeee_


	2. Chapter 2

Shoyo was slumped in Kageyama’s armchair again, watching the tv where a replay of some international volleyball game was playing.

“Romero is one of the best at serving,” Kageyama continued, having blabbered on about volleyball since turning the tv on. Perhaps it was the volleyball, perhaps it was the recent feeding but the guy was suddenly high on energy, his cheeks a slight flush toit.

Watching him instead of the tv Shoyo decided that this new version of Kageyama was much better, definitely more likable. He was so enthusiastic it was honestly a little weird, Shoyo listening to words like ‘setting’ and ‘smashing’ and ‘float serves’.

Shoyo had played volleyball himself when he was younger for a little bit, an older man by the name of Ukai coaching the children of town. So he had a vague idea about the rules and positions. He remembered the feeling of spiking a ball the most, loving the feeling of jumping high, the sight above the net, the ache in his palm and the echoing noise when the ball hit the gym floor.

Yet he still let Kageyama thoroughly explain each move and position, the vampire still sitting with his eyes glued to the screen.

Shoyo took another bite of the pear he had brought in his bag, glancing back to the screen. He was still a little dizzy, like he was full of a sort of tiredness but without the need to sleep.

“So you can’t step over the line afterwards?” Shoyo asked, watching a player basically fly into the air. He looked really tall.

“No, not after passing it over,” Kageyama explained.

Then he seemed to catch himself, looking over at Shoyo. “How’re you feeling?”

“You know, it’s a little creepy when you’re suddenly nice,” Shoyo said, weakly chuckling. Kageyama didn’t say anything but rolled his eyes.

“I’m good. A little light-headed but no pain or anything.”

“Good,” the vampire mumbled.

Shoyo tilted his head.

“You?”

Kageyama didn’t say anything but gave Shoyo a look, a slow nod while his lips slipped into another half-awkward, half-warm smile.

In the end Shoyo got home without any trouble, the subway taking him most of the way and the short trek to his dorm mostly just woke him up. He didn’t feel lethargic or anything in the next hour, nodding his head to music while he booted up one of his online games.

His phone went off the next minute, a paypal notification from sender Tobio Kageyama. Shoyo unlocked his phone, staring at his balance.

When the next song came on Shoyo couldn’t help but get up from his bed to dance around the room for a minute, his headphones getting unplugged from the laptop. He didn’t mind, just tossed them onto the bed.

When a knock was heard against his wall Shoyo only turned up the volume, laughing as Tadashi stomped inside only to stare at Shoyo like his roommate had finally gone mad.

“What are you so happy for?”

“I said, ooh, I'm drowning in the night,” Shoyo sang, using his phone like a microphone, “Oh, when I'm like this, you're the one I trust! Hey! Hey! Hey!”

“Alright,” Tadashi said, leaving the room. Shoyo ran out after him, yelling a half-hearted apology before plugging his headphones back in, shutting his door.

Shoyo ordered pizza from one of the pricier places for once because ‘buffalo mozzarella, man’. He even added a ridiculously expensive sugar bomb of a milkshake.

Because who could stop him?

It was a lot of money he earned, of course. When asking Kageyama about it he had just shrugged and said it’s a job under the radar with risks. Added to the fact that Kageyama’s family was pretty well off and he had inherited a large sum after his grandfather passed a couple years ago.

“Plus, if this continues and it works for both of us I’ll tell my mom and she might pay instead,” Kageyama had added, nonchalant.

Shoyo had wondered why he worked at a bookstore if that was the case but Kageyama didn’t give him a reply for that one, bringing Shoyo’s attention back to the volleyball on the tv when one team scored another point.

So Shoyo didn’t feel too guilty about it. If Kageyama had the funds and it essentially helped both of them who was Shoyo to complain. He truly didn’t understand why more people would want to do this.

Perhaps he was getting a little ahead of himself.

When the pizza delivery arrived later Kenma was just coming out from the shower, dressed in lazy clothes, his hair still dripping. He used one of those expensive silver shampoos or something that made his bleached hair almost silver. It was pretty but Shoyo thought it smelled too strong.

“You ordered pizza?” Kenma asked, watching as Shoyo accepted the delivery from the tired looking student who was most likely working part-time for the delivery app.

“Mhm, I got my first salary,” Shoyo replied, closing the door after him.

“Tell me next time you order so we can split the delivery cost,” Kenma said, then his eyes seemed to catch onto the two marks on Shoyo’s neck.

“Oh, how did it go?” he asked, following Shoyo back into his room, curios for once.

Shoyo’s small table was in the corner of his room, his seat just an old pillow. He usually studied in his bed anyway so the table was mostly for food. He had washed his sheets last week so he didn’t want to risk it with the pizza.

Jumping up Kenma got comfortable at the edge of his bed, crossing his legs.

“It went fine. It stung a little and it felt really weird, but it just took like ten minutes or so,” Shoyo explained, drinking from his strawberry and white chocolate milkshake that almost cost just as much as the damn pizza. He held it out for Kenma to try, the other taking a careful sip.

“And he’s a little awkward but he was a lot nicer afterwards,” Shoyo chuckled.

“And it’s good money?” his roommate asked, hogging his milkshake as Shoyo sprinted back into the kitchen to fetch the pizza cutter.

“Yeah, dude,” he replied when he returned, shutting the door so no other hungry roommates might come in begging for a slize.

Kenma hummed, Shoyo eagerly digging into his first slize. He had only eaten the pear he brought to Kageyama’s place and he felt like he was starving by now. The pizza tasted like euphoria. He wondered if it was something like this blood tasted like to Kageyama?

“You should probably cover those marks though,” Kenma said, finally handing back Shoyo’s milkshake. It was noticeably lighter than before, the redhead noted. If it weren’t for the many times Shoyo had stolen Kenma’s food, shampoo or borrowed money he would’ve been a little pissy.

“I guess,” Shoyo thought, watching Kenma leave again. He supposed a band aid wouldn’t do much to conceal the evidence, probably just draw attention to it. It was warm outside so Shoyo would need to pick some sort of shirt that would cover it because he couldn’t exactly wear a scarf. But, he had all weekend to decide.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

When Monday came around three days later the marks had surprisingly faded enough that Shoyo decided they weren’t too noticeable in the mirror. He had showered yesterday and the traces left were a slight bruising where Kageyama had sucked on the skin, added to two white marks. It made Shoyo wonder if the vampire would just use the same spot or not next time. Perhaps he should invest in some makeup to cover the marks up with.

When Shoyo sat in a lecture his phone lit up with a message. Thankfully he had for once remembered to turn the sound and vibrations off. Like a lot of students in class he looked down at his phone, the teacher oblivious or rather uncaring at the front of the university hall.

From: Sugawara  
 _Tobio told me everything went well but I wanted to check in with you, too. I’m sure you’ve realized he’s quite bad with words._

Shoyo bit his lip to conceal a smile.

To: Sugawara  
 _I’m fine! Kageyama was a lot more friendly afterwards so I guess it worked for him too? lol And the marks faded really quick too._

Shoyo thought a second before adding another message.

To: Sugawara  
 _Do you know when we’re supposed to meet next time? He didn’t say anything and I don’t have his number but I think he still wants to continue…?_

It took a couple minutes before Shoyo got a reply, briefly looking up inbetween to take notes from the teacher’s lecture. He knew she was one of those who always appreciated her students using her terms and way of speech, this the second course she was teaching him.

He had ‘Above all else’, ‘Nevertheless’ and ‘Moreover’ noted on his journal this far. The actual things he was supposed to be learning he could find online later.

From: +𝟾𝟷 𝟹𝟶𝟿 𝟺𝟺𝟽𝟷  
 _Hi._

Shoyo raised an eyebrow at his phone. He had a guess who it was but there was nothing else in the message.

To: +𝟾𝟷 𝟹𝟶𝟷 𝟿𝟹𝟸𝟹  
 _Who is this?_

From: +𝟾𝟷 𝟹𝟶𝟿 𝟺𝟺𝟽𝟷  
 _Kageyama._

Shoyo rolled his eyes at his phone, deciding on a proper name. He first thought about ‘sugary daddy’ but when he remembered Kageyama could technically be his actual dad if he was human it wasn’t as fun.

To: Bakageyama  
 _Sup_

From: Bakageyama  
 _Sup?_

To: Bakageyama   
_It’s short for what’s up, grandpa_

Shoyo was starting to gather that Kageyama might’ve been a lot more isolated than he originally thought.

From: Bakageyama  
 _If I’m a grandpa because of my age you’re a fetus._

To: Bakageyama  
 _I’m a hot teen while your hair is greying, sir_

From: Bakageyama  
 _It’s not. Also, Suga is telling me you need to go test your values before we do the second meeting._

Shoyo remembered Sugawara explaining something like this back when they’d talked together at Kageyama’s apartment. There was always the danger of anemia but apparently some more serious conditions could happen, one of them called shock-something.

Opening his phone browser he went to book an appointment immediately, before he forgot. He had his last exam next Wednesday so he was supposedly free the following day. Just before clicking confirm Shoyo realized he was probably going to celebrate with his friends after the exam. Probably not a good idea to book a doctor’s check up the following day. Setting it to the following Friday instead felt a little smarter.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

Conclusively Shoyo ended up at his room back before midnight while it was still Wednesday. His class had written their exam at 8 in the morning so while everyone tried to be lively they didn’t last too long when the partying started.

They had gone to two clubs before ending up at their usual spot, Aone’s Karaoke Bar. After an x amount of drinks Shoyo, Yaku and Lev were once again belting out their own version of ‘Flyers’ to the dismay of the classmates who had made it this far into the night.

His hangover the next day was awful. Luckily for Shoyo he had a couple episodes of his vampire crime drama to catch up on, now a guilty pleasure of his. He also should be saving up his money but he didn’t even hesitate before ordering an extra large portion of katsudon.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

The health center was busy when Shoyo arrived. He could tell this place was one of those where patients were in and out in a couple of minutes.

When the man at the desk asked the reason for his visit Shoyo made up something about not feeling well and a history of anemia in his family. The receptionist didn’t seem to need more than that and sent him through to the nurse’s office.

After a quick greeting she got right into checking his blood pressure, Shoyo looking around the office meanwhile. When she took a sample from his finger Shoyo simply watched her without flinching, a little proud of himself.

“Hinata,” she started, turning her chair around to examine the blood under a microscope. “I have to be honest and tell you I can see the mark you have on your neck.”

Shoyo stilled, staring at her in worry. She looked at him over her shoulder when he didn’t say anything.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

He was sitting on the stretcher, the blue paper underneath him crinkling as he moved.

“I, uh, he’s my friend,” Shoyo lied, not sure if she would be obliged to report it if he admitted it was an exchange for money.

“You’re not in any danger?” she asked, looking at him above her glasses.

“No,” he quickly shook his head. He supposed some of the few people who actually got attacked and survived might keep things silent, perhaps that was why she was making sure.

“You need to be careful though. Your blood pressure is good and I don’t see any abnormal changes in your blood but I’d still recommend iron supplements if you plan to keep it up. And I would not recommend giving blood more than once a month.”

Shoyo kept himself from frowning at her, he didn’t want to appear uninformed and alarm her. He and Kageyama planned to do it twice a month after all. Sugawara had said that was normal, hadn’t he?

“Nonetheless, your blood type is O minus and there are many people in need of transfusions for this specific type, if you ever reconsider.”

Staring at her Shoyo felt himself freeze. He was pretty sure the people at the blood donation clinic had said the same thing, so he was aware of that. But wasn’t she stepping a bit over the line here?

“Well, the vampire I know can’t properly absorb the capsules they get… and there’s no one doing anything about that,” Shoyo couldn't help but to reply, a bit of an edge to his tone.

“Did he say he was intolerant?” She asked, her tone different, pushing up her glasses on her long nose, “I’ve heard that one before. It might just be a ruse to get you to give him blood instead of help your fellow humans.”

_‘Fellow humans’_

As the nurse cleaned up her desk Shoyo thought about her words. Was Kageyama and Sugawara just faking it? Was it just a… taste preference?

Shoyo distractedly shook the nurse’s hand and accepted the folder on blood donation without a word. When he biked back home his mind was still back in that office, the words of the nurse repeated over and over.

With years of instances Shoyo had learned that he was quite oblivious and easy to fool. Perhaps it was just his wish to see the best in everyone but time after time being fooled into things one would think he’d learn?

He couldn’t exactly call Sugawara and ask about it, he was obviously biased.

If it even was a trick in the first place. The nurse could very well be the one lying or perhaps she was uninformed. She had almost treated Shoyo like a traitor, trying to convince him to come over to humanity’s side.

Shoyo made up his mind on the spot, followed his intuition, and took a left instead of a right at the next turn, going the opposite way than his apartment.

Sugawara was sorting through books by the entrance, Shoyo spotting him inside through the window as he parked his bike. It was sunny but not too warm outside, the planters on the street full of colorful flowers. With summer came the heat but it certainly brought it’s good mood too.

Perhaps it was the sound of Shoyo’s breathing, maybe the scent of him but Sugawara turned around before the human even said anything. Considering the door was permanently open, most likely to let in air, he hadn’t made any noise either.

While walking up to him Shoyo suppressed a shudder.

“Hey Hinata,” Sugawara smiled and he looked genuinely happy. Shoyo glanced towards the cash registers only to spot a black haired girl with glasses, looking up at the two.

“Hi,” Shoyo greeted, absently cracking his knuckles.

“Yeah, Tobio isn’t here yet,” Sugawara said as he noticed Shoyo’s eyes looking around the place.

“Oh no that’s fine. I was close by and I was thinking… if I could ask you something? It won’t take long,” he promised.

Sugawara raised an eyebrow, looking back at the cashier. “Well, I’m kind of working right now,” he replied, looking a little uncertain.

“I, it’s just about the test,” Shoyo trailed off, sidestepping a little as a customer entered the store, her large shopping bag touching his butt.

Sugawara gave Shoyo a displeasing look before he sighed, seemingly agreeing to it.

“Shimizu, I’m taking a short break anyway, okay? I’ll send Nishinoya out,” Sugawara explained as he passed the registers.

“Of course,” the woman replied, going back to her work. Shoyo trailed after the vampire, watching him enter the backroom with a keycard. Inside it was a lot less neat, shelves and shelves of books and boxes presumably filled with more books.

A boy, probably a teenager, was sitting amongst a pile of similar-looking textbooks, a candybar in his mouth. He looked up at Sugawara like a deer caught in headlights, slowly taking the candybar from his mouth.

Sugawara didn’t say anything but simply crossed his arms.

“It’s… got no nuts though,” the boy finally said.

“Seriously, Noya,” Sugawara sighed.

“Sorry, Sugawara,” the boy apologized, wrapping up the candy bar and placing it to the side. At least it looked like he had been careful because Shoyo could see no chocolate on either his hands or the books in front of him.

“Anyway, get out on the floor and help Shimizu. I’ll be back in a minute or so,” he explained, continuing past the storage room.

“Oh, is it an interview? Good luck, dude,” Nishinoya said, giving Shoyo a thumbs up while jogging back to the door they had entered, already gone before Shoyo could correct him.

“For someone like me it’s intriguing but honestly? It’s mainly annoying with how often you humans have to eat and then spend time getting it back out,” Sugawara said, Shoyo coughing at his words.

“Though I assume snacks in the middle of work isn’t necessary, especially as he ate a whole plate of food earlier.”

“Probably not, but it’s tasty,” Shoyo defended the other worker with a grin.

“During work hours though? Or am I being unreasonable?” Sugawara asked, sitting down in one of the three chairs around a small table. There were no windows in here but a ceiling lamp gave off a warm glow. A blue lounge chair stood in the corner, the right wall occupied by a small kitchenette.

“No, you’re not,” Shoyo agreed, “And I assume it would be bad if he got the books dirty.”

“Okay good,” Sugawara nodded. “Sometimes I worry I’m being inconsistent or irrational when it comes to the human employees. Which is everyone but Tobio, by the way.”

“Why would you be?” Shoyo asked, taking the chair opposite Sugawara when he gestured for him to sit down.

“Our habits are different. I might’ve lived the majority of my life around you but there’s things I still don’t quite get. Like I have no idea what the food Nishinoya ate is called,” he said, pointing to the dirty lunch box on the sink.

“Looks like something with marinara,” Shoyo shrugged, “but it smells a little like lasagna.”

“Lasagna!” Sugawara exclaimed “That’s it.”

“But who cares about that? You’re not human, it’s not expected of you to know human food, right?”

“We sell cookbooks,” Sugawara said, making a grimach and Shoyo laughed. Then he thought about it for a second, peeking suspiciously at the other.

“But have you never eaten anything? Out of curiosity?”

“Of course I have,” Sugawara snorted, “Threw up every single damn time though.”

“So more than once?”

“Curiosity,” he shrugged. “Oh, do you want tea or something by the way? There are some things in the cupboard but I have no clue how the coffee maker works. It’s new after a certain someone broke the old one.”

Shoyo’s guess was down between two people. Though he assumed there was no need for Kageyama to touch it in the first place which left the chocolate-eating boy.

“I’m good. I also don’t wanna take up all the time of your break,” he said, hiding his hands under his legs to keep his nerves at bay.

“I guess you’ll owe me one?” Sugawara winked.

“You, uh, you w-want a drink?” Shoyo tried to joke but faltered a bit, laughing awkwardly.

The vampire in front of him stared at him in silence, Shoyo awkwardly biting his lip, belatedly realizing he probably said something he shouldn’t have.

Tapping a finger on the table Sugawara then spoke.

“I will pretend I didn’t hear that and I will tell you to not ask me, or anyone like me, that ever again,” he said, his voice suddenly much deeper, much more serious. “I’m nice enough to not take advantage of your words because I know you’re joking and you’re new to this.”

“I’m sorry,” Shoyo whispered, his face flushing, a shudder running through him.

“Never heard the expression _‘don’t tempt a vampire’_?”

“Ah,” Shoyo realized, slowly nodding. He was still a bit on edge, not having expected Sugawara to be able to scare him like this. He was a likable and charismatic person with sharp fangs underneath, after all.

“To answer the break thing,” Sugawara answered instead, just like the previous last words really hadn’t been uttered, “It’s fine, I actually need to take more breaks since I rarely do.”

Shoyo slowly nodded, still a bit unnerved by Sugawara’s sudden warning.

“So what’s on your mind, Hinata? You told me it went well with Tobio?”

“Uh, yeah, no it went well. And he seemed to really… enjoy it?” Shoyo asked.

“I didn’t see him until after the weekend but he was still looking good,” Sugawara said, a genuine smile on his face as he looked to the side. “He was a lot more energetic too.”

“That’s good,” Shoyo started, still trying to organize his thoughts, “That it’s working, I mean. I kinda wanted to ask you about that though. You said he has a sort of intolerance to the pills?”

“People of his family do. And it’s not really pills we take, they’re more like capsules or tablets that dissolve in water. You can get them in liquid form too. We simplify by just saying PSCs.”

“PSCs, got it,” Shoyo noted, “So like, how does it work though? He’s still… doing okay, right? He said he used to drink human blood as a child?”

“So how it works is that we each get the supplements if we’re registered citizens but we also receive human blood, about one bag every quarter or if there’s an excess of bags, or some are about to expire. Of course expired bags do just as much to us as they do to humans, aka nothing,” Sugawara trailed off, giving Shoyo a look.

“How can there be an excess though? I didn’t know blood could expire,” Shoyo scratched his arm.

“A+ and O+ make up about 80% of the population and blood expires after around 40 days. People who donate are most likely going to be a part of that 80% blood type.”

“Oh, that’s a lot shorter than I thought,” Shoyo replied.

“Do you remember what type you were?” Sugawara asked, resting his chin in his hand.

“O minus she said- I went to test myself today,” he exclaimed.

“That’s uncommon then,” Sugawara hummed, “I don’t know the percentages but anything but those two I mentioned is basically considered rare.”

“Yeah, the nurse told me so. She said I should, uh… reevaluate. She saw the bite marks,” Shoyo admitted, smiling a bit weakly.

“The-” Sugawara frowned before his eyes looked over onto Shoyo’s neck. The human pulled down the high collared denim jacket he had borrowed/stolen from Kenma.

Then Sugawara’s eyes widened.

“He bit your neck?!” he yelled suddenly, both hands slamming down on the table quickly and loudly enough to make the human jump high in his chair.

“Jesus! I, uh, yes?” Shoyo blabbered. “Was he not supposed to?!”

“Fucking Tobio,” Sugawara sighed, dragging both hands over his face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. I- that damn kid.”

“What? What’s bad about it?” Shoyo worried loudly, a hand instinctively covering the faded bruise. There were barely any visible marks left but two, small white spots.

“No, there’s nothing bad, just… who does that? Damn, I have to baby him all the time,” Sugawara groaned.

“To be fair, I sorta removed my shirt and all so it was kinda maybe my fault too,” Shoyo admitted.

“There’s nothing dangerous about it, I promise. It’s just more common to go for the arm because it’s less visible,” the vampire said, finally laughing a little albeit tiredly.

“Oh.”

“Anyway, what were you saying?” Sugawara waved his hand, “You said the nurse asked you to rethink? She wanted you to donate instead?”

“Yeah,” Shoyo nodded, “She, uh, she gave me a brochure too. But like I’ve done it before and … I don’t know,” he shrugged, looking to the side.

Sugawara was silent for a moment before he replied.

“Well, you’re gonna have to pick one of the two, not do both.”

“I want to pick Kageyama,” Shoyo said, deciding to just speak his mind. He was getting frustrated with talking around the subject. Dishonesty wasn’t his thing.

“But the nurse said that… vampires sometimes lie and say they’re intolerant when they’re not. I don’t think I believe her but I still wanted to ask you,” he finally got out, glancing at Sugawara as he spoke. The vampire seemed to think it over for a moment, pressing his lips tightly together.

“I’m not exactly impartial though,” Sugawara said, giving Shoyo a look.

“I know. But I’ll trust you will tell me the truth, call me stupid if you want,” Shoyo insisted.

Sugawara distractedly tapped the table again before replying.

“I’m honestly not surprised she told you that. There’s a lot of misinformation out there and we’re not exactly living in a civilization where our survival and protection is the biggest priority. Which is understandable, we are predators and things were a lot different way back. The ‘lion analogy’ is dumb because we’re not mindless beasts yet we are still biologically higher on the food chain. That there’s still false information or just ignorance still out there isn’t weird. I’m sure even you have realized a lot of rumours are untrue?”

“Of course,” Shoyo replied.

“So, yeah. I understand they might want to persuade people to donate blood to the human cause instead. Especially if they truly think we just _prefer_ it to the PSCs because of the flavor.”

Shoyo tensely waited for him to reply.

“And do we prefer it? Fuck yes. I’ve been told an analogy for you would be like cardboard and caviar, whatever that tastes like.”

Shoyo snickered a little, playing with one of the buttons on his jacket as he listened.

“But we’re a tight knit community. There’s families and friends and while not everyone gets along of course, we protect each other. I’m one of those who can live on PSCs and the regular donations so people like me usually try to make sure those who _are_ intolerant get help instead.”

Stopping his fiddling Shoyo tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. “Didn’t you say you used to f-feed too? And pay for it, I mean.”

“Mhm, I did say that,” Sugawara hummed, “It was back when I was a lot younger. My best friend offered. I honestly think he just had a kink,” he chuckled. “I had the money to spare too as I was still living at home.”

“Does he not donate anymore?” Shoyo asked, wondering if he could meet up and talk to someone in a similar situation like him.

“He’s long gone now,” Sugawara said, a sad smile on his face.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Shoyo paled.

“It’s okay, he lived a good life. Kept kicking til the last moment,” he gently laughed.

Shoyo wondered if that meant he could assume Sugawara was also a lot older than he looked. Kageyama was 40-something and if Sugawara meant this old friend of his had lived a good life, had he died of old age?

“Don’t tell me you’re over a hundred,” Shoyo whispered, trying to put on a dramatically suspicious face.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Sugawara grinned, Shoyo’s eyes instinctively going to his fangs immediately. “Kageyama told me you called him grandpa.”

“To be fair he called me a fetus,” Shoyo defended himself.

“You kind of are,” Sugawara agreed with a teasing smile.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

When Shoyo arrived the following Friday he was met with the color red as the door opened.

Kageyama stared at him, blinking a little when Shoyo didn’t reply to his hello.

“What is it?” he growled, looking like he was getting ready to fight him any second.

“I, uh, hi,” Shoyo snapped out of it, looking away for a moment as he stepped inside to remove his outerwear and shoes before looking back at Kageyama.

It was dark outside, the sky starry when Shoyo walked the way from the subway station to Kageyama’s apartment. Not that he could see the outside now considering the curtains which were seemingly always closed.

“What the fuck are you staring at?” the taller hissed, dragging a hand through his hair like he’d maybe collected some dust or something. Though knowing Kageyama’s and his apartment it would be more likely if it was a fallen leaf or something.

“Sorry,” Shoyo smiled, “You’re not wearing your lenses. It just surprised me.”

Kageyama froze in shock before he turned around and entered the bathroom in quick steps, not even bothering to turn on the lights as he stared at himself in the mirror. Shoyo flicked the lightswitch and watched him from the doorway, the vampire narrowing his eyes from the sudden, bright light above him.

“I see you have a reflection,” Shoyo joked in an old timey stereotypical vampire voice, most likely a bad one at that. Kageyama didn’t react though, just briefly glanced at him, still distracted. Opening his cupboard he took out what looked like a case of contact lenses.

“Oh, do you actually need the lenses?” Shoyo asked, feeling a little bad that he commented on his eyes in the first place.

Kageyama paused, looking back over at him. “No,” he replied, frowning.

“Then why wear them now?” Shoyo asked, a little clueless.

Kageyama continued staring at him. “Does it not bother you?” he eventually asked.

“What? Why would it bother me?”

“... I don’t know.”

“Do you mean, like, does it scare me? Because then no. Plus it’s not like I didn’t realize you were a vampire after you bit my neck.”

“Shut up,” Kageyama grumbled, putting the case back before attempting to exit the bathroom. Shoyo still stood in the doorway, blocking his path. With the lights now on he got a better view, curiously looking up into his eyes. The color was an even, deep red with a lighter, almost pink shine coming from the middle. As he continued staring it somehow appeared like the colors and shapes in his red irises were moving.

Kageyama suddenly bent down, Shoyo unknowingly holding his breath as he leaned closer to his neck. When nothing happened he realized he was scenting him, his nose sniffling just slightly.

“Hungry?” Shoyo dared to tease. It was kind of exhilarating as he realized he was allowed to tempt this one vampire, no matter what Sugawara had said.

A low growl was emitted from Kageyama who let two hands fall onto Shoyo’s hips, leaning in closer.

“Okay, okay,” Shoyo breathed, getting a little worried he would bite him right then and there in the doorway between the hallway and bathroom.

Shoyo knew he already wanted to start with them lying down this time. Leaning back he tried to catch the vampire’s eyes again, voicing his request.

“The couch is too small,” Kageyama replied, letting go of Shoyo before glancing at the living room.

Another towel on the bathroom floor would work, Shoyo presumed, but his tailbone would probably be complaining in a minute, especially as he wasn’t allowed to move.

“Why don’t we use your bed?”

Kageyama turned to him with an expression of horror.

“Why my bed?” the vampire asked suspiciously.

“It’s comfortable. We were both a bit exhausted afterwards last time, right? I could nap a little. Plus I would suggest your couch too if it was big enough.”

Kageyama looked towards his bedroom door, seemingly thinking it over.

“If you’re afraid you will spill blood or something we’ll just get a towel again.”

“I won’t miss a drop, just like last time,” the vampire promised, intensity in his eyes.

Surprised by his sudden vow Shoyo released a hesitant laugh. He went over to his bag to fetch his thermos with hot water and cup noodles. It was just a simple snack he could have afterwards, placing them on the counter.

“What is that?” Kageyama asked, curious.

“Cup noodles, I’ll eat them afterwards to regain a little energy. Though I guess they’re all calories and sodium, nothing else,” Shoyo snorted.

“What’s in the cylinder thing?” Kageyama continued, picking it up.

“Don’t open it. It’s a thermos with hot water, you use it to boil the noodles in the cup. I assumed you don’t have a kettle or pot.”

The vampire narrowed his eyes at Shoyo before opening one of the cupboards, then the next one. In the third one there was indeed one pot with a lid, added to a standard frying pan.

“I guess I can cook here next time,” Shoyo smiled, watching Kageyama shrug. He carefully ran a hand down the leaf of the plant next to him. It had several leaves which were speckled in white, the branches hanging from the plant, looking ready to climb anywhere.

“What’s this one?”

“Pothos marble queen,” Kageyama replied, leaning back against the opposite counter.

Shoyo felt the corner of his mouth rise. “What, are they all royalty? Where’s the king and prince then?”

Kageyama snorted but looked around his room nonetheless, “I have another philodendron with ‘knight’ in its name, and that one’s is prince of orange,” he pointed to a large plant in front of one of the windows, large green leaves sprouting from the pot, one of the center ones a bright yellow.

“But I have none with ‘king’ in its name,” Kageyama frowned, looking around once more.

“Guess that makes you the king,” Shoyo winked, but messed up and binked with both eyes.

Kageyama just rolled his eyes, Shoyo able to laugh at himself.

When he laid down over soft sheets a couple minutes later his heart had once again sped up, maybe in fear, maybe in anticipation.

Shoyo had a pillow under his upper back this time, leaving his neck slightly stretched, revealed for the other.

Supposedly Sugawara had told Kageyama off by going for the neck first thing. Shoyo again thought it was partly his own fault but Kageyama just shrugged. When Shoyo said he didn’t mind it Kageyama instantly asked if he could do it there again.

So here they were, Shoyo once more focusing on breathing, telling himself to calm down.

Apparently there were no lights at all in Kageyama’s room. His bed stood in the middle of the room, a couple plants in front of the one window, the ceiling just a small lampshade without a lightbulb in it.

Shoyo appreciated not having to stare up into a bright light though and told Kageyama the soft light coming from the tv in the living room was enough. The soft background chatter was nice too, it was something he could focus on.

“If anything I’m at risk of falling asleep,” Shoyo admitted.

Kageyama climbed up onto the bed, hovering over him with a leg and arm on either side. With a soft gasp Shoyo noticed something. Reaching up he carefully grabbed his jaw, once more noting how cold he felt to the touch.

“Your eyes,” he whispered, Kageyama only watching him in silence as he spoke. “They’re almost shining.”

“I think it’s an old method of predation,” the vampire absently replied.

“Like an angler fish?” Shoyo replied, watching the way it almost seemed like the iris was projecting some sort of movement again, but the moment he looked away it was gone.

“Think you could hypnotise me?” he curiously asked.

“That’s illegal,” Kageyama replied.

“I’m okay with it though.”

Kageyama looked away, Shoyo blinking where he laid, snapping back out of it.

“Maybe next time,” the vampire mumbled, hesitantly glancing back at him.

Shoyo let his arms fall to his sides, the back of his hands sinking into the soft white sheets, probably some high quality stuff.

The bite didn’t surprise him as much this time, a sigh escaping him as Kageyama stilled above him.

Once more the sensation was just as odd, slightly stinging, mostly itching. With the pull as Kageyama sucked Shoyo found himself at the first point of discomfort, eyes scrunching closed. He released a whine to let the other know, a tongue suddenly there to gently lap against the wound instead.

Shoyo didn’t stop him this time, Kageyama finishing on his own after a couple minutes. He spent almost as long lapping at the marks, catching any drops that tried to escape.

Just like last time Shoyo slowly felt his own body, mentally, making sure he felt fine. Clenching his fingers, his right hand curled slightly in the sheets, enjoying the softness against his fingertips.

Kageyama fell to the bed next to him, just like last time. His eyes were closed while he licked his lips, his breathing slowly calming down. Shoyo couldn’t help watching him this time too, their bodies shoulder to shoulder.

The reminder that Shoyo was the one who had done this to Kageyama made something tingle in his stomach. His skin prickled, the hairs on his arms raising. For once Shoyo felt a little cold in his apartment, even though he was pretty sure it was just as warm as last time.

With a deep sigh Kageyama opened his eyes again, Shoyo watching him. Slowly turning his head, Kageyama stared right back at Shoyo, their eyes searching the other’s for evidence of what the other one had felt. What the other one was feeling.

Shoyo was the one to get up on one elbow, to lean over Kageyama to fit his lips against his.

In his chest bloomed another warmth, traveling all the way to his fingertips where Shoyo reached up to hold Kageyama’s jaw again.

The vampire didn’t reply at first, Shoyo about to lean back away when a hand behind his head stopped him, pulling him back down.

When Shoyo extended his tongue past his lips Kageyama met him halfway, hungrily licking into his mouth.

There was a faint metal taste present, Shoyo recognizing the taste of blood from the many times he’d bit his own tongue or cheek. Perhaps it was a human instinct too, to know how blood smelled. So one would know when something was wrong.

This felt like the opposite of wrong, though.

Pulling Kageyama with him, Shoyo fell back against the bed again, exhaustion tracing his movements even as his body craved the other’s touch. A contrast to the white sheets, even in the dark, his orange hair spread out like the sun as Kageyama leaned over him, pushing him down to claim his lips once again.

Was this his first time kissing someone, Shoyo wondered.

Was it his first time kissing another man? His first time kissing a human?

The last one would explain when he nicked Shoyo’s lower lip, the vampire hissing as Shoyo didn’t even realize until the familiar taste.

“Sorry,” Kageyama whispered, Shoyo reaching up to pull him down once more. Gathering the taste from the cut on his tongue he leaned up for the other, pressing his tongue against his.

With a low whimper Kageyama kissed him back yet again, following Shoyo’s request and with a sigh leaned back down.

By the time they stopped kissing, just a lazy repeating of their lips pushing together, Shoyo’s lip had stopped bleeding. For the first time in what had to be a lot of minutes he opened his eyes, once again remembering the red.

“That was nice,” Shoyo whispered, absently itching a spot on his neck that was tingling a little. The skin there was soft and a bit damp, Shoyo not really remembering why.

“‘M cold… I’m gonna sleep a little,” he announced before weakly trying to tug the sheet over him with no avail. Just a couple seconds later he was asleep, exhaustion winning.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

When Shoyo woke up he was turned onto his side, his body a little stiff but too warm for comfort. As he moved his legs he realized there was a blanket thrown over him, his eyes slowly blinking awake as he tried to look around.

In front of him the only source of light was coming from the doorway of the room, Shoyo slowly sitting up. There was a slight ache in his neck and he dragged a hand over the spot, remembering where he was.

Kicking the blanket off he slid down from the bed, his movements sluggish as he entered the living room, rubbing one of his eyes.

On the couch was Kageyama, his legs crossed underneath him, eyes watching Shoyo cautiously. He was clearly wide awake.

“How are you feeling?” Shoyo asked, heading straight for the sink for some water, his throat dry.

Kageyama turned around in his seat, looking at Shoyo over the back of the couch. “Are you okay?” he asked instead of replying.

“Mhm yeah, just a little dizzy. Definitely hungry,” Shoyo mumbled, downing two glasses with ease. He glanced at the noodles on the counter, going to grab the cup only to realize it was heavy. Opening the plastic lid Shoyo realized the noodles had already been prepared, probably some time ago.

They were now completely cold.

“Did you…?” he asked, turning to Kageyama with a frown.

“I did just like the instructions on the side showed,” Kageyama replied, still looking a little frightened.

“… But it’s cold now,” Shoyo deadpanned, staring at him.

“You need to eat them hot?” Kageyama asked, raising an eyebrow at the cup in Shoyo’s hands.

“Well preferably,” he groaned in reply, “Why couldn’t you just let me do it.”

“You fainted or something so I tried to prepare your food but then you wouldn’t wake up,” Kageyama hissed, distress obvious in his voice.

“I’m pretty sure I just fell asleep, Kageyama. And I’m a heavy sleeper, you have to shake me to get me up. Like, you should hear my alarms.”

“I was worried!” the vampire grunted, turning back to glare at the tv instead. Shoyo stared at the back of his head for a moment, collecting himself. With a sigh he walked back towards the couch, the only light source in the apartment being the tv. Thus Shoyo naturally kicked a foot into one of the big terracotta pots on the floor.

“Fuck!” he yelled, jumping one legged over to the couch where he sat down next to Kageyama, the human holding his right food in his hand, big toe pounding in pain. “Fucking ouch.”

“You’re very clumsy,” Kageyama commented, a little clueless of what he was supposed to do.

“No shit,” Shoyo barked. He bent over, collecting himself as the pain slowly faded.

“Whatever, why were you worried?,” Shoyo bit out through his teeth, “Did you drink more this time or what?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Kageyama replied, watchful of Shoyo who was sitting suspiciously close beside him.

“Then it’s just my fault for not sleeping enough last night. I stayed up watching a tv series really late,” Shoyo assured him, sitting back up straight to stretch his back. He was careful when he slowly set his foot down so he wouldn’t foolishly knock it into the table or something.

“But you didn’t respond when I was talking to you,” Kageyama insisted, like this was a very serious matter. “And Suga asked me to poke you but you still didn’t respond.”

“Sugawara? And I was asleep, dude. Heavy sleeper, I’m telling you,” Shoyo repeated, standing up to fetch his phone from his bag. He had one missed call from Bokuto along with a few messages about a party.

“I called him. I thought you were dying,” Kageyama replied, completely humorless. Shoyo turned to look at him again. Pressing his lips together tightly Shoyo really tried but a snicker eventually escaped nonetheless.

“Kageyama… Have you never seen a human sleep before?”

The vampire shrugged, giving the tv his attention again, some sort of sports channel on showing a tennis game. The volume was turned down so low it was barely audible for Shoyo.

“How do you sleep?” Shoyo continued as he fell back into the couch once more, oblivious of how close his previously hurt foot was to the table leg.

With his phone in his hands he got comfortable, this time sitting shoulder to shoulder with Kageyama. He could tell the other froze up as Shoyo casually invaded his personal space. The human pushed on nonetheless, throwing his legs up on the cushion beside him too. Kageyama was still a bit cool to the touch but it was not as noticeable as before.

“In my bed.”

“In your bed. Wow,” Shoyo rolled his eyes.

“You sleep once a day, right?” Kageyama asked him instead, curiously peeking over Shoyo’s phone as he replied to his friend’s messages.

“Each night we need around 8 hours but that’s not always possible. Sometimes I sleep less, sometimes more but if I skip sleep completely I’ll be a zombie the next day and I’ll need to catch up on sleep,” Shoyo explained, having to remind himself Kageyama might not understand how human things worked after all.

“Do you not learn about humans in school?” he added, curious.

“Of course. I was homeschooled though. My family lives outside on a private property so I didn’t interact with a lot of humans. Most of what I know is from tv,” Kageyama explained, Shoyo slowly nodding as he listened.

“Sorry about your noodles,” he mumbled like an afterthought.

Surprised and both impressed by the apology Shoyo hid a smile behind his phone, pretending to watch the tv.

“It’s okay,” he promised after a moment. “But I was thinking I could maybe stay here a moment and order some food instead? I’m really hungry,” he pleaded, a small pout on his face.

“Sure,” Kageyama replied, his body starting to relax next to Shoyo by now.

No one had yet mentioned what had happened after Kageyama finished feeding earlier. Going by the time on his phone Shoyo must’ve been asleep for approximately an hour.

“When do you normally go to sleep, by the way?” the human asked as he opened the fast food delivery app, watching the little animation of the maskot.

“We usually sleep on Sundays,” Kageyama supplied, reaching for the remote to change the channel.

“...what?” Shoyo paused as he looked up from his phone.

“Sometime during each Sunday, usually for a couple hours but it depends on the person,” the vampire casually explained. “It’s an old tradition that still works.”

In front of them a happy, blond woman was singing with her yoghurt, Kageyama cutting the ad off as he changed the channel once more.

“Wait, I don’t understand,” Shoyo coughed, trying to wrap his head around the words. “Do you not sleep… the rest of the week?”

“No. We don’t need to,” Kageyama explained, “But I sometimes sleep during the week if I feel like it.”

 _“Fuck me,”_ Shoyo exclaimed, “I wish I could do that, sleep once a week. We waste a third of our lives sleeping, you know?”

Kageyama snorted beside him, briefly shocked by the first expression before evidently realizing it was some sort of slang. Shoyo used a lot of phrases Kageyama didn’t recognize but similarly Kageyama’s vocabulary was a lot more developed than his, understandable considering his age. Then again, with the way he rarely spoke it didn’t seem to matter too much. They both had the standard Miyagi accent but their storage of words was different enough that certain sentences had to be explained.

The human was about to ask if Kageyama wanted to order something too, simply out of habit from having the app open, before remembering. Shoyo ended up ordering some fried chicken from a nearby place, trying to not go too wild with the portion size considering he would have to bring any leftovers with him on the way home.

“Sleeping is nice,” Kageyama countered after a minute. “We spend a lot of time being bored. Meditation is a big thing and it’s usually taught early. Our large amount of time awake is the reason most of us work in privately owned companies. If we apply for human work we have to follow human customs and go home even though we could work longer. We’re not in need for as many breaks as you either.”

“Yeah, I got that. When I met Sugawara he said something along the lines of having to take more breaks, even though he didn’t personally need them,” Shoyo hummed, closing his phone after checking the estimated time. 35 minutes.

“We’re more expensive if we don’t take breaks,” Kageyama pointed out.

“I guess that makes sense. But don’t you get tired though? Like, maybe you don’t need to eat anything but just sit down for a minute?” Shoyo asked. On the tv some sort of sports commentary was now playing, four men in suits discussing what looked like football, the sound still too low for Shoyo to hear them.

“No,” Kageyama raised an eyebrow. In front of them there was a slow motion video of a football entering the goal, the goalkeeper’s face one of distress as his eyes comically, slowly widened, his shirt already green with stains from grass.

“But if you ran a hundred laps around this building,” Shoyo proposed, gesturing a circle with his finger, “... you’ll get tired, right?”

Kageyama frowned at him. “Of course, but that’s not exactly what we do at the bookstore.”

Shoyo laughed aloud, tousling his own hair out of habit. “I guess it’s just humans that get exhausted by simply existing.”

“Sounds tiring,” Kageyama hummed without any sympathy whatsoever. Then he tilted his head in question. “When did you meet Sugawara?”

“He didn’t tell you? I went to the store last week,” Shoyo explained, getting a notification that the fast food joint had started preparing his meal.

“Why?” Kageyama asked, absently spinning the remote in his hand. Shoyo watched him, impressed by the trick.

“Because I wanted to ask him something,” Shoyo shrugged, wanting to leave it at that. He was still a little embarrassed about having believed the nurse’s propaganda in the first place.

Sugawara had linked him to two pdf reports on actual research made on the matter of the PSCs reliability in cases of intolerance and whatnot. Shoyo hadn’t read the full documents or anything, especially considering they were each like 100 pages and full of a lot of medical mumbo jumbo he didn’t understand. But the conclusion was nonetheless the same in both; that a vampire’s natural diet was human blood and nothing else. Anything less, like the plasma component and animal blood, could potentially work as a substitute but would weaken a vampire until ultimately an early death occurred. The process was ultimately sped up for those intolerant.

Shoyo supposed that in a perfect society each vampire would have his or her own human donor, or supposedly _10_ different donors throughout their lifetime.

It was understandably impossible because of several reasons.

“I accidentally asked Sugawara if he wanted to, you know,” Shoyo finally replied when Kageyama had turned to look at him from the lack of reply, the human sheepishly smiling at him.

“What?” Kageyama asked. He had to lean back a little as he turned to Shoyo to prevent their faces being too close. It made Shoyo self-consciously wonder if his breath was bad or something.

“If he wanted to have a drink. Don’t worry, he scolded me thoroughly. I didn’t know it was like such a taboo thing to ask,” Shoyo tried to laugh it off as he got up to fetch some chewing gum from his bag. He luckily found a small package with mint flavor gum, produced by some budget brand.

Kageyama stared at him, eyebrows furrowed. The remote stopped spinning in his hand with a thud against his fingers as he caught it.

“Whatever,” Shoyo shrugged when Kageyama still didn’t seem to get it. He wasn’t sure why he brought it up in the first place; it was just embarrassing.

“You asked if he wanted to drink your blood?” Kageyama asked next nonetheless, finally apparently figuring out what Shoyo was admitting to.

“Well, it was kind of a joke,” Shoyo defended himself.

The sudden change of air made the human shiver, watching as Kageyama stilled, his pupils contracting where he stared wide-eyed at Shoyo. He looked like a cat ready to pounce. With the shiver that ran through Shoyo’s body he realized it was more akin to a jaguar.

“You’re only mine,” Kageyama then spoke, barely moving apart from opening his mouth to speak, his tone deep but voice composed.

Shoyo unknowingly cowered from the intensity of his stare, once again caught off guard by the red irises and the atmosphere of the living room switching.

“Uh, I know…,” Shoyo tried, suppressing the need to gulp in fear. He somehow felt himself moving slowly and carefully, like any sudden movement was dangerous. “And Sugawara s-said he would ignore it. Again, he sorta told me off.”

“Good,” Kageyama grumbled, finally relaxing a little. He kept his eyes on Shoyo, watching him suspiciously.

“Wait, what do you mean _‘you’re mine’_?” Shoyo remembered to ask, carefully sitting down again. He tried to dramatically imitate the other’s grunting voice to ease the mood a little.

What had all that been about all of a sudden?

“Not _you_ ,” Kageyama replied, suddenly back to his awkward self, “but you can’t- you can’t feed more than one person.”

As he released Shoyo from his stare, the human wondered if Kageyama was aware of even doing it in the first place. That had been some sort of hypnotism, hadn’t it?

“Yeah, I got that,” Shoyo huffed, crossing his arms as he turned back to the screen too. He watched one of the sports commentators eagerly nod, gesturing to his colleague while saying _something_.

“Can’t you turn up the volume, by the way? I can’t hear anything,” Shoyo dared to complain, fairly certain the vampire’s sudden predatorial outburst was over.

Kageyama obeyed and turned the sound up with a couple presses of the button. It wasn’t enough and Shoyo sighed loudly.

Turning on the couch Shoyo instead reached for the device to change it himself. Perhaps it was instinct but Kageyama instantly held it away from his reach, like a dog worried it’s toy would be stolen.

“Just let me-” Shoyo grunted, leaning over him to try and get it, back up in Kageyama’s personal space once again.

The hand against his shoulder easily pulled him off but Shoyo tugged on the arm, using his legs to push himself up. Reaching over the other towards his outstretched arm Shoyo got his chest in Kageyama’s face, the vampire sputtering while Shoyo finally managed to get his hands around the remote, pulling it free.

“Ha!” Shoyo exclaimed as he sat back down, fixing his shirt before turning the volume up, realizing that they’d changed the channel in the middle of the scuffle. An older lady in an atrocious mint green shirt was gesturing to the upcoming weather in north Hokkaido.

“Not as strong as you look?” Shoyo teased as he mockingly chewed his gum.

It only took a second before the human was pushed onto his back with a yelp, his vision passing in front of his eyes faster than he was used to. Trying to shake off the sudden dizziness Shoyo suddenly stared up at Kageyama hovering above him. Dropping the remote over his head onto another cushion Shoyo weakly grabbed both Kageyama’s wrists, both of which were holding him down by his shoulders.

Too late Shoyo realized his line of vision was once more caught by the vampire’s intense eyes, cursing inwardly as he tried to look away. It was like his sight was magnetized to meet him, the need a mix of curiosity and fear of looking elsewhere. Perhaps it was an instinct of the prey, to watch for signs of aggression.

Focusing and concentrating on the fading lightheadedness Shoyo managed to close his eyes, finally snapping out of the hold the vampire had on him. Perhaps it really was something Kageyama was unaware of doing in the first place.

Bracing himself he tried pushing on the wrists, clenching his teeth together. No matter how much he charged or pulled there was no change though. With a loud exhale Shoyo realized he couldn't get him to budge. Focusing both hands on Kageyama’s left wrist he gave it his all, trying to push him off, yet again without success.

“Do you give up?” Kageyama asked, Shoyo peeking an eye open at him. The mesmeric influence was still there, Shoyo looking down between their bodies instead. With his pulse quickening he quickly lifted his legs, never one to decline a challenge, for better or worse.

Kageyama seemed to catch the movement, however, and in a mere second Shoyo was flipped over onto his stomach. This time he had kept his eyes closed and there wasn’t as much vertigo as last time. Both his legs were immobilized by Kageyama’s, his shoulders once more pushed into the couch, the other holding him in place.

Shoyo had never wrestled with a vampire before. He was finding it quite ridiculous. Even when he fought with kids back in school, some who were both stronger and older than him Shoyo usually got in a couple moves. In this particular fight Shoyo lacked in every component and his usual speed was completely useless.

He didn’t have a chance.

But Shoyo hated losing, more than anything. And if he had to embrace his inherited characteristic of shamelessness he would.

Getting an idea Shoyo decided to yell out in pain, his shoulders tensing. Instantly, in probably less than a second, Kageyama got off him. Standing up straight the vampire stared at him in fear.

Shoyo simply rolled over onto his side, resting his head in his hind, elbow bent where he posed.

“Couch is now mine,” he declared, wiggling his eyebrows at Kageyama.

Staring at him, seemingly still a little shocked by Shoyo’s fake scream in agony, Kageyama remained quiet.

It didn’t take long before Shoyo felt a little sorry for him though, sitting back up and patting the seat next to him with an apologetic smile. The vampire slowly sat down but still looked a little rattled.

“Let’s just say both won,” Shoyo cheekily whispered, leaning on his shoulder after picking up the remote once more.

“Can’t we watch something fun?” he then asked, trying to advert the other’s attention while also attempting to figure out how the remote worked.

“Like what?” Kageyama mumbled, reaching over to press the button for the tv guide. Shoyo started scrolling through the channels, surprised by the sheer amount. He didn’t use a tv himself but instead watched things on his laptop, mostly from streaming services.

“A comedy?” Shoyo proposed, “What sort of movies do you usually watch?”

Kageyama shrugged, Shoyo figuring he could choose then. On one of the channels there was some sort of cop comedy playing, Shoyo picking the channel for now. He supposed he hadn’t exactly asked Kageyama if he could stay over this long. Time to order for, yes, but Shoyo wouldn't really eat for two hours.

When his chicken arrived the delivery girl greeted him cheerily. He was impressed by her attitude considering it was a late Friday night. He supposed most people that ordered by now were drunk and craving some fast food.

Shoyo didn’t find any cutlery in Kageyama’s drawers but figured he could eat with his hands. It was called finger food anyway, right?

Setting it down on the table Shoyo opened each container with different sounds of excitement escaping him. The ice cubes of the ice-tea he ordered were mostly melted but he swished the cup around in his hand, taking a sip, finding it amazing nonetheless.

Kageyama was watching him with interest from his seat, nose still scrunching a little. To be fair fast food always smelled a lot, Shoyo realized a little belatedly.

The coleslaw was pretty lukewarm and the chicken itself a similar temperature. It all still tasted great though, Shoyo eagerly taking bites of everything.

“You want some?” he asked, mouth full of chicken. He had ordered the medium portion but wasn’t sure he would finish everything anyway now that he had the food in front of him.

“Wait, no! You can’t have any,” Shoyo immediately insisted, taking back his offer.

“Why?” Kageyama asked, narrowing his eyes in challenge.

“You’ll just throw up all my precious blood. Absolutely not,” Shoyo stood firm, covering the boxes with his arm in fear of Kageyama actually attempting to steal a chicken drumstick.

“I don’t want any of it anyway,” the vampire grumbled, “gross.”

“It’s so fucking good though,” Shoyo dramatically moaned, laughing at himself, “You can try some when you’ve had that disgusting PSC thing instead.”

Kageyama ignored him, going back to watching the movie. A seriously bad CGI scene was going on, Shoyo watching some sort of robot explode in front of a green screen.

“Oh, how does the bagged blood you get taste by the way? From the blood clinics.” Shoyo wondered a couple minutes later as he dried off his hands above the empty container. He still had most of the fries left, wondering if he should try to save them or just toss it with everything else.

“It’s kind of bland,” Kageyama answered. “But it doesn’t give us any energy when it’s past the expiration date.”

“But you get it before it’s expired, right?” Shoyo asked with a raised eyebrow.

“They send it a day to a week in advance before the date. If the postal service is slow we get it a bit late.”

“That’s…” Shoyo frowned, shoving the remains of his food into the bag everything had come with. He added the sad, cold noodles too and tied it close. Under the counter Shoyo only found one single trashcan filled with what looked like dead leaves and some plastic. As the tv screen lit up with a bright scene Shoyo realized it was an empty blood bag, no traces of red left in it.

He figured he could take his fast food trash with him to prevent it smelling up the place.

“But it’s not like it goes bad just because the exact date has passed,” Kageyama added with a shrug.

“But mine’s better?” Shoyo grinned as he left the bag by the door to bring when he left. There was only a little bit left of the movie so he assumed he could stay for it. Not that he was paying it any attention at all. He wasn’t even sure what the main character’s name was, on a second thought…

“Obviously,” Kageyama rolled his eyes, like it was obvious. Shoyo danced a little as he walked into the bathroom to wash his hands.

Later when it was time for Shoyo to leave Kageyama decided to follow him to the subway station. It had sort of been Shoyo who asked for it in the first place but the vampire agreed without any persuasion necessary.

As they walked towards the station they listened to the faraway noises of parties and people still out, celebrating that it was finally weekend.

The two walked in what was mostly silence, Shoyo sometimes initiating short conversations about everything and nothing. Kageyama was wearing his large bomber, looking like he was cold even with the heat of a summer night around them.

When they parted at the subway station neither of them ultimately said anything apart from goodbyes. Kageyama had briefly asked if the Friday in two weeks would work like usual and Shoyo nodded, adding it to his phone’s calendar, suggesting they meet a little earlier in the day though. Today had been an exception since Shoyo had gotten lost with Tadashi while they were out on a jog earlier during the day.

Perhaps it was stupid to expect something, maybe it wasn’t, but Shoyo rocked a little on his shoes, looking expectantly at Kageyama. He bit his lip but he was too afraid to ask for anything himself. When Kageyama didn’t say anything either, just nodded, Shoyo turned around to enter the station with a small sigh.

He wasn’t completely sure what he wanted in the first place.

A hug?

Another kiss?

Shoyo supposed they were pretending like nothing had happened. That it was just a spur of the moment thing.

Then why did the thought make Shoyo so sad?

When the train arrived, Shoyo’s hair dancing in the wind where it stuck out from his hood, he shuddered from the cold. The brakes of the vehicle screeched loudly in the underground station, Shoyo stepping onto the train to sit alone in the back.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

Except no matter what Shoyo had speculated things turned out quite similar two weeks later anyway.

And just like last time he ended up on Kageyama’s bed once more. He supposed it would be the best place to feed though. For once Shoyo wasn’t as tired and when Kageyama had finished he didn’t lean away. He was panting like he usually did but instead of falling back he nosed under Shoyo’s jaw, to the other side of his neck.

Parting his lips he breathed a gust of warm air against his skin, Shoyo shivering underneath him.

If this was all he could get then that was okay.

“Can I?” Kageyama suddenly asked, voice deep and rough.

Shoyo felt his heart pick up in speed from the words, certainly not what he had expected. He had thought Kageyama stopped a little earlier than last time but was this the reason why?

“Okay,” he weakly replied, tilting his head to the other side. Shutting his eyes he felt the second bite pierce his skin that night, not as bad as the first. Perhaps it was because of the loss of blood.

Kageyama finished after just a minute or two this time, licking the wound just as thoroughly. He had probably taken just as much blood as he regularly did, just from two different places. For some reason.

Shoyo wondered why Kageyama had wanted to switch it up this time, unexpectedly whining weakly from the oversensitivity.

Kageyama stopped at the noise, leaning down to rest his face against Shoyo’s chest instead. He seemed to be collecting himself considering his still heavy breathing. With a slow smile Shoyo realized he was resting above his heart, perhaps listening to it.

After a minute he felt a little antsy, gently pushing on Kageyama’s shoulder for him to sit up. Kageyama followed, looking at Shoyo, his lenses once more abandoned in his cabinet in the bathroom.

When Shoyo scooted forwards, curious to once again taste himself on Kageyama’s tongue the vampire instantly leaned in, meeting him halfway. With a pleased sigh Shoyo slid his arms over Kageyama’s shoulders, pulling him closer while their mouths got accustomed again, happy that he was allowed to do this once more after all.

Perhaps it was from the accident involving Kageyama’s fangs from last time but he was obviously more careful, especially with his teeth. When Shoyo whined a little from the resistance the vampire weakly laughed against his lips.

“You’re so frail,” he whispered, Shoyo opening his eyes to meet his.

“I’m not,” Shoyo insisted, even though science would prove him wrong. Collecting the courage deep in his stomach Shoyo laid back against the bad again, crawling back on it and wiggling his finger for Kageyama to follow. It didn’t take more coaxing than that before the vampire crawled up after him, once again looking like a predator in the dark.

Shoyo’s breath hitched as Kageyama pressed his lips against his, the human reaching over his back. One hand fell flat on his nape, sneaking in under his shirt where he spread his fingers wide, sharing the warmth from his skin. His right hand slid up into Kageyama’s hair instead, holding him in place and tilting his head the way Shoyo wanted it as he explored his mouth.

Enthusiastically but carefully Shoyo slid the tip of his tongue over the teeth, careful of the sharp edges. Kageyama sighed and used his tongue to push Shoyo’s back after giving him a couple of seconds to explore, taking back control.

It was pleasant yet exciting, Shoyo unable to stop the smile growing on his lips. When Kageyama leaned back Shoyo licked his own lips, looking up at him. It was still day outside and the thick curtains in Kageyama’s bedroom were pulled up, probably to let the plants by the window eat some of the sunlight.

“I don’t want to stop,” Shoyo said, voice almost quiet, like he didn’t want to disturb the silence around them.

Kageyama didn’t verbally reply but leaned down once more, Shoyo’s hands once more traveling all over him. With both palms against his lower back Shoyo pushed him down, biting Kageyama’s lip as he experimentally rolled his hips.

He immediately got a reaction, Kageyama exhaling through his nose in surprise. Shoyo didn't let him go though. Instead he lulled his lips in close again, caressing his tongue against his. Twisting it to distract him he managed to get his attention before moving his hips again, releasing a needy moan.

Twice seemed to be the magic number, Kageyama finally pushing back down against him. Shoyo instinctively opened his legs wider so he could fit comfortably in between them, a slow grinding motion starting between the two. Shoyo had always been pretty vocal, moaning and whining in pleasure while Kageyama mostly gasped and grunted when he got a good direction.

Shoyo could feel the hardness in his pants that he was rubbing up against, fingers twitching to reach down between them.

Perhaps they were going a little fast, perhaps not, but Shoyo carefully snaked a hand down their bodies before he was able to change his mind. Kageyama’s shirt had lifted a little, Shoyo gently trailing his nails against his lower stomach, asking before proceeding further.

When Kageyama didn’t say nor do anything but instead kept rolling his hips against Shoyo while still busy with his lips, the human hummed a little for attention. When he leaned back, distractedly licking his own lips, Shoyo gave him a coy smile. Then he let his fingers circle the skin once more, feeling the hairs of his happy trail.

Blinking down at him he supposed Kageyama understood his silent question, shakily nodding. Shoyo nodded right back and leaned up to ask for another kiss while simultaneously apologizing for stopping it in the first place.

Reaching down, Shoyo used both hands to unzip Kageyama’s pants, right hand falling on the hardness underneath the underwear. Feeling up and down the length Shoyo hummed, tracing the shape with his fingers.

With sudden eagerness he pulled him out only to tug on the length, Kageyama getting the message. He sat back on his knees to pull himself free, Shoyo taking the time to throw his shirt off. He held eye contact when Shoyo wiggled out of his pants and underwear, throwing them to the side.

Kageyama bent down to trail his lips down Shoyo’s chest, inhaling deeply while his hands touched him all over, fingers seeking warmth.

“Off,” Shoyo demanded, tugging on the edge of Kageyama’s shirt, the other obeying but with a sigh.

“‘S cold,” Kageyama grunted, frowning a little. Shoyo found himself feeling a little sorry for him, even though he was no longer cold himself, even while naked. It was about to be June next week, the heatwaves probably about to pass over Japan soon.

“Let’s get under the sheets then,” Shoyo said, jumping off the bed only to lose his balance, holding onto the wall before he fell to the floor. Waiting until his vision stopped spinning he turned back around, finding Kageyama looking at him in worry.

“I’m fine,” he insisted, waving at him. Just to make sure for both of their sake Shoyo downed the rest of the water he had put on the small side table. Kageyama pulled the sheets aside, Shoyo climbing inside with renewed excitement.

It quickly got warm underneath though, Shoyo instantly grabbing for both their cocks in each hand. Moving closer, lying side by side he pressed them together. Considering his length it made sense that Kageyama was a little bigger. It still made Shoyo a little hesitant, suddenly self conscious about himself.

When Kageyama gently cradled his jaw in both hands, kissing him once more, Shoyo somehow forgot about it.

Suddenly surprising Shoyo the other pulled away for a moment, reaching over the bed on his side. Shoyo admired his toned body as he did, his ribs slightly protruding underneath his skin, the muscles well shaped even on his lean body.

Rolling back over Kageyama revealed a bottle of what looked like lube. Shoyo eagerly held up a hand, giggling a little as the other poured a generous amount on his hand, the bottle releasing a funny noise.

Shoyo spent a minute warming the lubrication between his hands before reaching down.

They both sighed deeply in pleasure, Shoyo peeking down between their bodies where he pressed their now slick cocks together. He gripped them with his right hand while he let his left slide over their heads, his thumb tracing the slit of Kageyama’s dick. A little needily Shoyo then moved his hand down to impatiently tug at his own balls, reaching over to copy the motion on Kageyama.

The moan he received was a good reaction, he supposed.

Shoyo looked back up, surprised to find Kageyama’s eyes closed, his hair having fallen to the side where they lay side to side. Sliding his leg over his hip, the other in between Shoyo wiggled even closer. When dark lashes moved and the vampire opened his eyes Shoyo felt himself flush, mouth slightly parted as he watched the beauty that was Kageyama.

At that moment Shoyo felt proud. At that moment Shoyo felt grateful he was allowed to be the person here in bed with him.

Shoyo wasn’t sure if he really was permitted to though; whether they were breaking some moral laws or whatnot. He wasn’t completely sure. Then again, Shoyo had always been a little bold, a little shameless.

It felt good though. Seriously good.

Kageyama’s lips moving against his sent shivers through his body, the pleasure of warming him up somehow addicting. Where Shoyo’s hands, arms, legs touched Kageyama’s skin would warm up to match his temperature.

Shoyo found himself infatuated by the feeling, by the knowledge of knowing he could affect him this much. It made him feel needed. Wanted.

He wasn’t completely sure who leaned forwards first but Shoyo hummed in delight when Kageyama pushed his tongue against Shoyo’s.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

Sugawara’s hands were tied in front of his face, black gloves covering his fingers. His eyes were closed, lips weakly moving as he thanked the gods for his friend’s happy life. He knew they would treat him well in the afterlife; he had been a good person after all.

Watching behind him Shoyo stayed silent, listening to the soft noise of the city around them.

Kageyama stood on his side, still holding Shoyo’s hand after the human’s request. The taller one was also wearing gloves to keep warm, Shoyo’s naked fingers comfortable in the fabric.

In front of them stood a gravestone with beautiful writing that read;

_Police Officer Sawamura Daichi_   
_1913 - 1994_

_"If I could do it all again, I wouldn't change a thing."_

Behind the stone traditional tohbas planks were placed, kanji written in a black, slightly faded ink. When the late August wind passed the planks gently fell back and forwards against the structure they were put in, the sound always reminding Shoyo of the serenity of japanese graveyards.

Kageyama clenched his hand, Shoyo gripping it back, turning to weakly smile a little at him.

“I brought two friends with me today, Daichi,” Sugawara then spoke. “You might remember Tobio. He’s the troublesome boy I’ve talked about before.”

Kageyama looked a little disappointed by his introduction but bowed in front of the grave nonetheless.

“And this is Shoyo Hinata, Tobio’s donor and a good friend. Something tells me you would’ve liked him, even if he’s a bit intense sometimes,” Sugawara smiled, turning to look at Shoyo.

Making a deep bow, Shoyo thought about the image Sugawara had shown him on his phone last week. The black and white photograph depicted Sugawara together with some other students of the 1942s graduates of Minamisōma’s police academy. A smiling officer with his hat in his hand was leaning over Sugawara’s shoulders, both their hair black.

Sugawara had scrolled to another photo of Daichi’s solo photo, laughing while explaining how nervous his friend had been of getting his photo taken.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Sawamura,” Shoyo told the grave, trying to ignore the clenching feeling in his chest.

When he straightened back up he realized that Sugawara was looking at him in surprise. The cold, wet feeling under his eyes had Shoyo embarrassedly reaching up to rub his eyes, keeping his other hand tightly in Kageyama’s.

A slow but gentle smile slipped over Sugawara’s lips, the vampire turning back to the grave. “See, Daichi? He’s a very passionate human, perhaps a little too emotional about everything. But I think you would’ve commended him on that.”

The graveyard planks rhythmically echoed in the wind.

When they were walking back outside a little while later Shoyo had finally stopped crying, Kageyama leading him by his hand.

“I’m sorry, Suga,” Shoyo sniffled, the older turning around to face him.

“Don’t apologize, Shoyo,” he insisted, hesitantly holding out his arms. Shoyo immediately let go of Kageyama’s hand to embrace Sugawara, face pushed into his massive yellow scarf. Apparently he had knitted it himself.

 _‘Like who even does that? How is he so sweet?’_ Shoyo thought as he hugged him.

Shoyo hadn’t known Daichi Sawamura, of course. He was crying because he finally understood how sad a life of immortality would be. Sugawara clearly missed this person yet he was blessed or cursed, depending on how one would see it, to outlive most of his friends.

“Are you crying for me?” Sugawara asked above him, Shoyo nodding into the scarf.

“Oh, Shoyo,” Sugawara hummed, rocking them gently side to side. He didn’t thank him or ask him not to, nor did he say it was okay. He just held him.

Later Kageyama and Shoyo walked back to his dorm, having parted with Sugawara after the graveyard. They weren’t really supposed to join him in the first place but when Shoyo had been waiting at the shop for Kageyama to get off his shift Sugawara had mentioned it was the anniversary of Daichi’s death. Shoyo really wanted to come with, especially considering all the tales he’d heard of him.

And he was glad he went. It was really nice, even if he was embarrassed by suddenly crying so much.

It ultimately jump-started another conversation both Shoyo and Kageyama had been trying to avoid though.

Firstly, back in early June, during the fifth time Shoyo visited Kageyama’s apartment, he challenged Kageyama to date him.

Or rather, Shoyo had been very insistent about it and the challenge wasn’t really necessary; Kageyama had said ‘sure’ while feigning nonchalance.

During Shoyo’s sixth visit Kageyama had prepared a little white pot with a plant in it.

“It’s a cutting from the pink one you liked,” the vampire had said, a little flustered as he explained, “It’s rooting in sphagnum moss so you’ll need to repot it in a c-couple months, but I can do it, just bring it here. You water it when it gets dry but you have to make sure-”

Shoyo shut him up with a kiss.

When they were lying in bed later Kageyama was a koala of limbs around Shoyo’s body, trying to steal all the heat he could. Shoyo made sure his boyfriend would text him instructions for the little plant, already worried he was going to kill it.

Now, almost a complete summer later, Shoyo sat on his bed, door closed behind them. All three of his roommates seemed to accept Kageyama; Kenma definitely appreciating how quiet he was compared to a certain owl-like person. Both Tadashi and Bokuto had been a little intimidated the first time they saw him without lenses though, Shoyo promising Kageyama was just like a teddy bear only to get growled at.

The vampire was currently fiddling with one of the plants Shoyo had gotten from him, most of them easy care ones. Apparently the easiest amatuer mistake was overwatering, not underwatering. Shoyo had learned that the hard way.

His little pinked-leafed treasure got the best spot, luckily still growing happily where it stood on a little ceramic tray of small stones. Shoyo had no clue if the pebble tray really worked but he filled it with water almost everyday, Kageyama talking about humidity and photosynthesis.

“Yeah, baby. Talk plant science to me,” Shoyo scantily moaned, Kageyama turning around to glare at him.

“I’m doing good though, right? Ignoring Yuki, she was a weak plant,” Shoyo asked, moving his feet side to side on the bed. He had decided to name all of his plants for some reason. Attempting to do so at Kageyama’s apartment, however, had been a bit more tricky, considering the ridiculous amount. Shoyo had even started calling it a jungle.

“The aglaonema wasn’t weak, you drowned it-”

“Okay, but ignoring her,” Shoyo insisted. The zz plant was pushing up new leaves so Shoyo knew he was doing _something_ right at least. And it’s name was easy to remember. He liked it.

“You’ve passed the judgement,” Kageyama said as he finally turned away from his plant-check, Shoyo laughing.

When he climbed up on the bed to join him Shoyo eagerly accepted the kiss, rolling him over to lean on him. Shoyo tapped his fingers against Kageyama’s chest, drumming for a second before snaking his hand up over his shoulder, lips and tongue still occupied.

“Do you want to feed a little today and a little tomorrow? Or just everything tomorrow?” Shoyo asked against Kageyama’s mouth, his breathing a little heavier than earlier.

Kageyama pulled him close, tugging him down into a hug rather than going for a bite. The sudden act surprised Shoyo a little but he was quick to embrace him back, closing his eyes as his face pushed into the pillow.

He could feel Kageyama’s nose against his neck, his boyfriend inhaling and burrowing closer. The movement made Shoyo’s heart swell, his chest growing warm where it was pressed against Kageyama’s.

Still, his boyfriend was holding him oddly tight, his breathing a little faster than usual.

Shoyo’s ears picked up a sudden sound of a quick inhale, the human frowning. Trying to lean back Kageyama didn’t let him though. Holding him close he nudged his face against his neck, Shoyo feeling the wetness against his skin.

“Kageyama,” Shoyo whispered, reaching up to stroke his hair.

He didn’t get a reply, just a shake of his boyfriend’s head.

“Tobio, honey,” Shoyo murmured, tapping his other hand a little against his chest again. The arms around him gently let go, Shoyo carefully sitting back up, looking down at his boyfriend.

His eyes were wet where he stared up at Shoyo, the red irises blurry with tears.

“What is it?” Shoyo insisted, feeling the pull of wanting to cry himself. He wasn’t completely sure why Kageyama was crying but he had an idea. But even if he didn’t understand his body was still eager to join in anyway.

“I don’t want you to die,” Kageyama finally spoke, his voice shaky.

Shoyo had to bite his cheek above him, slowly leaning back to sit on the vampire’s stomach with his legs on either side.

“I’m not that old though,” Shoyo tried to reply, taking a deep breath to control himself. This wasn’t the time to cry himself into a mess again; he had to comfort someone else.

“But you have so few years left,” Kageyama sobbed, an arm coming up to cover his eyes. As he raised his hand Shoyo briefly caught sight of his teeth clenched together, the sharp fangs perhaps having scared him another day, a whole season ago.

“I have at least, like, sixty years left, dummy,” Shoyo insisted, gripping the other’s arm to tug it down. Kageyama let him, still teary-eyed glaring at him, his lips slightly trembling.

“And it might not sound like a lot to you, but it is. That’s sixty more summers just like this, and times the four seasons that’s like… two hundred something springs, summers, autumn and winters.”

“I don’t like winters,” Kageyama weakly grumbled, Shoyo gently chuckling above him.

“I’ve already promised you that you can leech all the warmth off me during the cold seasons, just like how you’ve kept me cool this summer,” he insisted, leaning down to touch his forehead to Kageyama’s.

“I know it’s scary,” Shoyo admitted, swallowing, “but we’ll take it as we go, okay?. Plus we’ve only dated for like three months.”

“I want to marry you,” Kageyama replied, reaching up to dry his tears off, his cheeks red.

“Yes, yes. Later, though,” Shoyo hummed, already having had this conversation. Reaching up he brushed through his black strands, pushing them back. Following it by cupping his face Shoyo let his two thumbs wipe the rest of the tears away.

It was obvious Kageyama had a possession problem of sorts. Shoyo’s neck was evidence nr one with its multiple freckled white dots all over, traces from weeks of bite marks.

And in another couple weeks, months, years it would be his whole body. His arms, wrists, thighs, anywhere Kageyama felt like biting Shoyo would simply let him, displaying them however he wanted.

Throughout his life Shoyo got stared at, but he didn’t mind. If Kageyama was committed to him enough by suggesting marriage the first week of them dating, back during that first summer they had together, then what was wrong with Shoyo eagerly accepting marks all over his body just to prove Kageyama was truly his?

He had always been a little shameless, after all.

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

Exactly 62 years, 2 months and 10 days later a beautiful, grand philodendron stood on Hinata Shoyo’s grave in the Yushima graveyard, a ten minute bike trail from Kageyama Tobio’s house, it’s pink-spotted leaves reaching for the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I visited a graveyard when I went to Tokyo a couple years ago and I absolutely loved the sound of the wooden planks behind the graves as they moved in the wind. It was somehow incredibly peaceful. 
> 
> Thanks for reading ♡  
> Criticism is as always welcomed!


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